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Purchased   by  the   Hamill    Missionary   Fund. 


BV  2550  .Y68  1904 

Young  people  and  missions 


Young  People  and  Missions 


Young    People 

and 

Missions 


^ 


Addresses  delivered  before  the 
Eastern  Missionary  Con- 
vention  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,     October     13-15,     1903 


V^r\\  >c^.  .(3or\^.^eY-\\\on U  \cXo. v-e  5 5 ^  5 


NEW     YORK:     EATON     &     MAINS 
CINCINNATI:   JENNINGS    &    PYE 


^' 


The  Philadelphia  Convention  Addresses  are  pub- 
lished in  a  series  of  seven  small  volumes,  of 
which  this  is  one.     The  volumes  are  entitled: 

A  CALL  TO  ADVANCE 

MISSIONS  AND  WORLD  MOVEMENTS 

THE  ASIATIC  FIELDS 

THE  AFRICAN,  EUROPEAN,  AND 
LATIN  AMERICAN  FIELDS 

GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  HOME  FIELDS 

YOUNG  PEOPLE  AND  MISSIONS 

THE  MISSIONARY  WORKSHOP 


Copyright,  1904,  by 
Eaton  &  Mains 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

I.   Young   People  a^d   Missions....      7 
Rev.  John  F.  Goucher,  D.D. 

II.   The  Churck*^s  Imperative  Duty  56 
John  R.  Mott,  M.A. 

III.   The  Epworth   League  and  Mis- 
sions   ^. 99 

Rev.  Joseph  F.  Berry,  D.  D. 


Young    People    and 
Missions. 


I. 

YOUNG    PEOPLE    AND    MIS- 
SIONS. 

By  REV.  JOHN   F.    GOUCHER,   D.D. 

God's  "eternal  purpose,  which  he  pur- 
posed in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,"  is  to 
establish  his  kingdom  over  willing  hearts 
throughout  the  entire  world.  He  uses  para- 
ble, prophecy,  and  prayer,  as  well  as  direct 
statement  to  emphasize  the  certainty  that 
his  kingdom  will  be  established  and  to  in- 
struct his  followers  concerning  its  charac- 
ter and  man's  relation  to  its  coming.     His 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

kingdom  is  likened  to  a  "stone  cut  out  of 
the  mountain  without  hands,"  which  "be- 
came a  great  mountain,  and  filled  the  whole 
earth."  It  "is  like  unto  leaven,  which  a 
woman  took,  and  hid  in  three  measures  of 
meal,  till  the  whole  was  leavened."  "Then 
Cometh  the  end,  when  Christ  shall  have  de- 
livered up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the 
Father;  when  he  shall  have  put  down  all 
rule  and  all  authority  and  power.  For  he 
must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  un- 
der his  feet."  In  the  prayer  which  our  Lord 
gave  the  Church  to  be  her  model  and  a  part 
of  her  daily  ritual,  he  commanded,  "After 
this  manner  therefore  pray  ye :  Our  Father 
which  art  in  heaven.  Hallowed  be  thy  name. 
Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  in 
earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven."  The  compass 
and  content  of  this  prayer  express  with  sol- 
emn significance  the  purpose  of  God  and 
confront  the  Church  and  his  every  follower 
with  grave  responsibilities. 
8 


YoUiNG    Pl'OPLli    AND    MISSIONS. 

Prayer  Implies  Response. 
Prayer  is  the  offering  up  of  our  sincere 
desires  to  Almighty  God  with  confession, 
suppHcation,  and  thanksgiving.      It  is  not 
praver  unless  it  is  born  of  a  controlling  de- 
sire, accompanied  with  faith  in  God,  and 
"faith  without  works  is  dead."     To  pray, 
"Thy  kingdom  come,"  is  to  pray  for  every- 
thing preparatory  and  essential  to  that  com- 
ing, both  in  one's  own  life  and  in  the  world 
at  large.     The  use  of  this  petition  always 
implies  the  attitude  of  soul  which  finds  ex- 
pression in,  "What  wilt  thou  have  me  to 
do?"     It  pledges  us  to  the  warfare  against 
evil,  places  us  in  the  army  of  God,   and 
makes  withholding  or  indifference  treach- 
ery and  desertion. 

The  Church's  Mission. 
The    organization    and    training   of    the 
Church  are  for  the  development  and  ex- 
pansion of  the  kingdom.      Its  commission 
9 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

is  "to  all  nations,"  "to  all  the  earth,"  "to  all 
the  world,"  "to  all  flesh,"  "to  all  that  are 
afar  off,"  "to  every  creature,"  "to  the  ends 
of  the  earth,"  "unto the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth."  Not  to  the  world  or  communities 
in  mass,  but  "to  every  creature,"  individual- 
ized. The  Church  through  her  members  is 
required  "to  preach,"  "to  warn,"  "to  de- 
clare," "to  teach,"  "to  show,"  "to  evidently 
set  forth,"  "to  witness,"  "to  baptize ;"  to 
proclaim  by  living  voice  and  printed  page, 
to  witness  by  personal  living  and  by  her 
organized  ministries  and  ordinances,  "both 
in  Jerusalem" — through  city  evangeliza- 
tion— "and  in  all  Judea" — through  home 
missions — "and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the 
uttermost  part  of  the  earth" — to  perverts 
and  the  indifferent,  through  foreign  mis- 
sions. 

Evangelization  Defined. 

To  "evangelize"  means  to  instruct  in  the 
Gospel,  to  pervade  with  the  spirit  of  the 
lo 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

Gospel.  As  Dr.  Alexander  Duff  says,  "It 
includes  all  instrumentalities  fitted  to  bring 
the  word  of  God  home  to  human  souls." 
The  world's  evangelization  requires  that 
every  person  who  has  reached  the  age  of 
moral  accountability,  in  some  one  genera- 
tion, shall  be  personally  responsible  for  his 
rejection  of  Christ  or  his  ignorance  con- 
cerning him,  because  knowledge  of  his 
claims  was  or  might  have  been  a  personal 
consciousness.  Nor  does  it  stop  here.  It 
includes  also  the  gathering  of  those  who 
have  accepted  him  into  the  organic  body  of 
Christ,  which  is  the  Church.  "Go  ye  there- 
fore, and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations, 
baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit : 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatso- 
ever I  commanded  you." 

The    world's    evangelization    does    not 
necessarily   mean   that  every   person   shall 
have  an  experimental  knowledge  of  Christ, 
II 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

but  it  does  mean  much  more  than  the  simple 
setting  forth  of  his  character  and  office  by 
printed  page  or  proclamation  through  pub- 
lic speech.  It  includes  also  such  setting 
forth  of  Christ  and  his  claims  by  living  wit- 
nesses of  his  indwelling  and  efficacy,  that 
every  person  may  see  the  demonstration  of 
Christianity  in  practical  living,  and  have  the 
Gospel  presented  in  his  own  tongue.  This 
will  constitute  the  world's  evangelization, 
for  hastening  which,  to  the  limit  of  personal 
ability,  every  Church  and  each  individual  is 
responsible. 

There  are  limited  areas  in  America,  Great 
Britain,  India,  and  elsewhere  which  have 
been  evangelized.  Some  which  were  are  not 
now,  and  some  are  now  which  never  were 
before.  But  not  a  single  land  nor  people 
is  wholly  evangelized.  There  are  multi- 
plied millions  who  have  never  heard  of 
Christ,  who  because  of  isolation,  ignorance, 
superstition,  or  sensuality  know  nothing  of 

12 


Young  Piiopi^i;  and  Missions. 

the  provisions  and  claims  of  the  Gospel. 
The  primary  need  is  that  missionaries  shall 
be  sent  throughout  the  whole  world  to  teach 
the  knowledge  of  Christ  to  every  creature. 
"How  then  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom 
they  have  not  believed?  and  how  shall  they 
believe  in  him  of  whom  they  have  not 
heard?  and  how  shall  they  hear  without 
a  preacher?  And  how  shall  they  preach, 
except  they  be  sent?" 

The  Gospel  Expansive. 

The  essential  spirit  and  normal  interpre- 
tation of  the  Gospel  require  its  diffusion. 
Love  is  a  vital  and  social  force  and  must,  by 
the  law  of  its  existence,  disseminate  itself. 
No  one  to  whom  the  Gospel  comes  has  an 
exclusive  right  in  it.  Everyone  holds  that 
which  he  has  received  in  trust  for  all  those 
for  whom  the  Giver  committed  it  to  him. 
To  possess  brings  the  obligation  to  communi- 
cate. "Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give." 
13 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

The  cycle  of  God's  purpose  for  humanity 
finds  expressions  in  two  coordinate  com- 
mands. Each  is  expressed  in  a  monosylla- 
ble. To  those  who  are  at  "enmity  against 
God,"  he  says,  ''Come."  "Come  now,  and 
let  us  reason  together,  saith  the  Lord : 
Though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall 
be  as  white  as  snow."  "Incline  your  ear, 
and  come  unto  me,  and  your  soul  shall  live." 
"Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
"The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come.  And 
let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come.  And  who- 
soever will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely."  This  is  the  Gospel  of  salvation 
for  the  sinner.  It  means  enrichment  for 
the  destitute.  It  includes  pardon  and  pro- 
vision for  every  need. 

As  soon  as  the  invited  has  been  received, 

transformed   into  the   divine   likeness,   and 

made  partaker  of  the  divine  nature,  as  soon 

as  love  is  enthroned  in  his  heart,   Christ 

14 


Young  Peoplij  and  Missions. 

commissions  him  to  "go."      "Ye  have  not 
chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen  you,  and  or- 
dained you,  that  ye  should  go  and  bring 
forth  fruit."     "Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach 
all  nations."     "Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
"Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead ;  but  go  thou 
and  preach  the  kingdom  of  God."     Christ 
gives  to  every  soul  he  regenerates  a  com- 
mission wherein  he  may  find  expression  for 
that  love  which  is  inseparable  from  the  re- 
newed nature.     This  is  the  Gospel  of  serv- 
ice  for  the   saint.      It  means   opportunity 
for  the  reclaimed.     It  includes  equipment, 
employment,  reward.     He  invites  to  come, 
that  he  may  qualify  to  go.     The  qualifica- 
tion is  never  withheld  from  any  who  re- 
spond   to    the    invitation.     "He    will    give 
grace  and  glory."     The  world's  evangeliza- 
tion   waits    upon    the    application    of    our 
Lord's    Gospel   of   Go.     "Behold,    I    send 
you  forth." 

15 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

What  the  Church  Must  Supply. 

The  Church  must  supply  two  things  in 
sufficient  quantity  and  quahty  before  the 
world  can  be  evangelized.  These  are  in- 
cluded in  the  command,  ''Go  ye." 

First,  the  necessary  agents.  These  must 
be  selected,  trained,  commissioned,  and  sent 
"unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth"  to 
proclaim  and  interpret  the  Gospel  and  to 
raise  up  and  direct  millions  of  native  Chris- 
tians to  witness  by  living  the  experience  of 
its  reality  and  power. 

Second,  the  necessary  accessories  for 
maintenance  and  expansion  must  be  pro- 
vided. That  is,  those  who  are  saved  must 
demonstrate  that  they  are  partakers  of  sal- 
vation for  service  by  either  serving  as 
agents  on  the  firing  line,  abroad  or  at  home 
as  called,  or  by  serving  by  a  similar  con- 
secration and  devotion  in  supplying  the  ac- 
cessories, such  as  sympathv  and  support, 
i6 


Young  PeopIvH;  and  Missions. 

faith  and  substance,  prayer  and  fellowship. 
Each  one  is  under  obligation  to  have  and 
manifest  this  spirit  of  service  whether  at 
home  or  in  the  field,  even  though  the  latter 
may  be  more  difficult  to  adjust,  or  the  for- 
mer more  difficult  to  maintain.  All  must 
share  the  burden  and  the  triumph  as  "labor- 
ers together  with  God."  None  is  excluded 
from  God's  plan.  If  he  is  included  he 
must  do  God's  work  as  God  directs. 

The  Place  and  Promise  of  Young 
People. 

While  all  men  are  in  a  general  way,  and 
each  is  in  a  particular  way  included  in  the 
Gospel  of  salvation  for  service,  the  young 
have  a  special  relation  to  it.  There  are 
some  blessings  promised  in  God's  word  to 
old  people,  and  others  to  those  in  middle 
life,  but  young  people  are  the  preferred 
class  in  God's  providence,  for  every  bless- 
ing promised  in  the  Bible  may  be  succes- 
2  17 


Young  PeopIve;  and  Missions. 

sively  theirs.  When  a  child  is  converted  it 
is  a  double  work  of  grace,  namely,  the  sal- 
vation of  a  life  and  the  salvation  of  a 
lifetime,  with  its  untold  opportunities  and 
influence.  Polycarp  was  martyred  at 
ninety-five.  But  he  was  converted  at 
nine,  and  gave  eighty-six  years  of  blessed 
service. 

It  is  not  an  accident  that  young  people 
are  the  chief  objective  of  the  scheme  of  sal- 
vation. In  youth  the  heart  is  like  wax  in 
its  impressibleness,  like  bronze  in  its  re- 
tentativeness.  The  years  in  which  conver- 
sion usually  occurs  are  between  twelve  and 
twenty.  Statistics  show  the  year  of  most 
frequent  conversions  is  the  sixteenth  for 
girls  and  the  seventeenth  for  boys.  Those 
years  past,  the  prospects  decrease,  and  after 
twenty-one  the  probability  is  very  small, 
for  over  ninety  per  cent  of  the  members  of 
the  evangelical  Churches  in  America  were 
converted  before  they  were  twenty-three 
i8 


Young  Peopi,e;  and  Missions. 

years  of  age.  Less  than  five  per  cent  of 
those  who  leave  college  unconverted  ever 
commit  themselves  to  a  Christian  life. 

Practical  philosophers  and  psychologists 
no  longer  busy  themselves  about  probation 
after  death,  but  with  how  far  the  tendency 
to  fixedness  of  habit  reduces  the  probability 
of  ever  initiating  the  Christian  life  after 
the  twenty-fifth  year  has  passed.  The 
thought  of  the  past  concerned  itself  with  the 
divine  decrees  and  threw  the  responsibility 
upon  God ;  the  thought  of  the  present  is 
largely  concerned  with  personal  duty  and 
throws  the  responsibility  upon  man. 

Adolescence  and  Conversion. 

The  latest  psychology  teaches  "that  our 
impulses  and  instincts  ripen  in  a  certain 
order,  and  if  the  proper  objects  are  pro- 
vided at  the  proper  time  habits  of  conduct 
and  character  are  formed  which  last  for 
life;  but  if  neglected  the  impulse  dies  out 
19 


Young  Pf,opi.e;  and  Missions. 

and  our  most  earnest  efforts  meet  with  no 
response."  Professor  Starbuck  asserts  and 
supports  his  statement  with  many  facts  and 
figures,  that  "conversion  is  a  distinctively 
adolescent  phenomenon."  Professor  Coe 
says,  "Conversion,  or  some  equivalent  per- 
sonalizing of  religion,  is  a  normal  part  of 
adolescent  growth,  and  a  deeply  personal 
life  choice  is  now  easier  than  either  before 
or  after."  The  normal  occupation  during 
adolescence  is  consciously,  or  subcon- 
sciously, to  make  life  choices. 

Young  people  must  be  the  prime  objec- 
tive in  the  world's  evangelization,  for  usu- 
ally before  or  during  adolescence,  if  ever, 
the  foundations  of  a  Christian  life  are  laid, 
the  student  life  is  determined  and  the  trend 
for  greatest  usefulness  established. 

If  for  thirty  consecutive  years  all  the 
young  people  in  the  world  between  ten  and 
twenty-three  years  of  age  could  be  reached 
by   Christian  teaching,   the   world's   evan- 

20 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

golization  would  be  accomplislied.  Five 
successive  generations  of  young  people, 
from  ten  to  seventeen  years  of  age — dur- 
ing the  years  when  most  responsive  to  the 
claims  of  religion — would  have  been  under 
the  influence  of  Gospel  truth,  and  five  suc- 
cessive generations,  between  sixteen  and 
twenty-three  years  of  age — the  second 
period  most  determinative  of  a  religious 
life — would  have  had  similar  influence. 
Within  these  two  periods  nearly  every  per- 
son assumes  the  personal  relation  to  re- 
ligion wdiich  he  makes  final.  The  vast  ma- 
jority of  those  who  are  now  twenty-two 
years  old,  and  not  already  Christians,  of 
whom  probably  less  than  two  per  cent 
would  ever  be  converted  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions,  will  have  passed  to 
their  final  account  within  thirty  years,  and 
the  world  would  be  occupied  by  those  who 
had  faced  the  responsibility  of  accepting 
or  rejecting  Christ  during  the  most  favor- 

21 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

able  periods  of  their  lives,  and  the  world 
would  be  evangelized. 

Young  People  Most  Easily  Mobilized. 

Young  people  are  not  discriminated 
against  in  the  outworking  of  God's  purpose. 
They  receive  from  Christ  the  commission 
to  "go,"  which  is  never  withheld  from  those 
who  "come."  As  they  necessarily  consti- 
tute the  chief  subjects  of  the  world's  evan- 
gelization, they  must  largely  furnish  the 
agents  and  accessories  for  its  accomplish- 
ment. Their  number  would  of  itself  make 
them  an  important  factor  in  this  great  work, 
but  their  quality  is  more  important  than 
their  quantity.  They  are  acquisitive,  and 
at  an  age  when,  if  ever,  they  will  enthrone 
God  and  lay  the  foundation  of  devotion 
and  liberality.  They  most  readily  acquire 
strange  languages,  are  enthusiastic,  aggres- 
sive, and  courageous,  rarely  pessimistic, 
have  endurance  and  improvableness.     They 


Young  Peoplu  and  Missions. 

are  the  part  of  the  army  who  are  most  eas- 
ily mobilized,  for  they  are  not  as  yet  artic- 
ulated with  society,  and  high  enterprise 
appeals  to  their  spirit.  They  are  flexible 
and  easily  adapted  to  changing  conditions. 
They  furnish  the  very  material  for  a  suc- 
cessful propaganda  and  offer  the  rational 
field  for  recruiting  the  agents  and  develop- 
ing its  supporters. 

If  the  leaders  are  to  be  truly  great  their 
training  must  be  commenced  when  young, 
that  they  may  discover  their  aptitudes,  de- 
velop their  endowments,  gather  detailed 
and  comprehensive  knowledge,  acquire 
skill  and  be  adjusted  to  their  mission.  It 
is  more  than  a  coincidence  that  during 
adolescence,  when  men  and  women  are 
most  responsive  to  the  call  of  God,  they 
are  also  most  available  as  agents,  most 
teachable,  and  then,  if  ever,  the  habits  of 
devotion  and  liberality  are  best  established, 
and  the  highest  life  purposes  formed. 
23 


Young  Peopi^e  and  Missions. 

Path  to  Future  Consecration  of 
Capital. 

Everyone  is  commissioned  to  be  Christ's 
witness  "unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth."  The  burden  of  proof  is  with  each 
one  to  show  how  he  is  justified  in  not  being 
personally  at  the  front.  If  that  is  clear  he 
is  under  positive  requirement  to  be  at  the 
front  representatively  so  far  as  possible. 
To  hold  the  life  line  is  as  important  and 
obligatory  as  to  go  into  the  breakers. 

If  adequate  accessories  are  to  be  avail- 
able it  must  be  through  training  the  young 
people  to  practical  sympathy  and  personal, 
proportionate  cooperation.  In  two  decades 
or  less  the  $25,000,000,000,  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  Church  members  of  the  United 
States  will  be  $50,000,000,000,  or  more,  and 
this  sum,  whatever  it  may  be,  will  be  sub- 
ject to  the  administration  of  those  who  to- 
day are  in  their  formative  age.  Those  to 
24 


Young  Pi^ople;  and  Missions. 

whom  it  is  now  intrusted  will  be  in  eternity, 
facing  the  most  serious  aspect  of  the  ques- 
tion how  it  was  they  had  the  direction  of 
so  much  capital  and  left  it  uninvested  for 
the  kingdom.  Now,  if  ever,  those  who  are 
to  possess  it  must  be  taught  the  duty  and 
joy  of  sympathetic  and  proportionate  co- 
operation with  the  cause  of  God,  that  it  is 
their  obligation  to  tithe  their  possessions, 
and  their  opportunity  to  contribute  so  much 
as  they  can,  not  from  impulse  or  as  a  gratu- 
ity, but  "as  good  stewards  of  the  manifold 
grace  of  God,"  that  at  his  coming  Christ 
may  have  his  own  with  proper  use.  Uncon- 
secrated  wealth  is  an  offense  to  God  and  a 
canker  and  curse  to  the  holder.  "Your 
gold  and  silver  is  cankered ;  and  the  rust  of 
them  shall  be  a  witness  against  you." 

Provision  of  Adequate  Foreign  Force. 

If  all  the  members  of  the  Church  were 
devoted  to  hastening  the  kingdom  of  God 
25 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

the  Church  miHtant  would  be  the  Church 
triumphant,  and  the  problem  of  home  mis- 
sions would  be  solved  in  a  decade.  There 
is  nothing  more  contagious  than  Christian 
personality. 

Eighteen  and  two  third  centuries  have 
passed  since  Christ  commanded  his  disciples 
to  preach  his  Gospel  to  every  creature,  yet 
only  one  of  the  entire  membership  of  the 
evangelical  Churches  of  the  United  States 
has  gone  into  the  foreign  field  for  every 
5,500  who  stay  at  home,  and  only  1,500  of 
their  ordained  ministers  are  engaged  in  for- 
eign work,  while  the  other  18,000,000  mem- 
bers and  122,000  ministers  are  living  their 
lives  in  the  home  field. 

If  the  evangelical  Churches  were  to  send 
to  the  foreign  fields  2,000  missionaries  a 
year  for,  say,  thirty  years,  the  world  would 
be  evangelized  before  the  close  of  the  first 
third  of  this  twentieth  century.  That 
would  mean,  after  about  twelve  years,  a 
26 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

standing  army  of,  say,  20,000  laboring 
among  the  1,000,000,000  who  know  not 
Gocl  nor  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  hath  sent,  or 
one  missionary  for  every  50,000  persons  to 
be  reached.  That  would  be  sufficient,  if 
properly  supported,  to  develop  and  give  di- 
rection to  the  native  agencies  and  assure 
success. 

Not  an  ImpossibIvE  Demand, 

This  is  not  impossible,  nor  would  it  make 
a  disastrous  nor  unreasonable  draft  upon 
the  home  churches.  There  are  nearly 
twice  two  thousand  young  people.  Student 
Volunteers  in  the  colleges  and  universities 
of  the  United  States  to-day,  who  are 
pledged  for  this  work  and  eager  to  go.  If 
the  demand  were  manifest  their  number 
would  be  largely  increased.  Two  thousand 
a  year  would  only  be  one  out  of  eleven  of 
the  young  people  who  go  out  from  our  col- 
leges and  universities,  or  about  one  out  of 
27 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

every  sixteen  leaving  our  institutions  of 
higher  education  annually. 

To  carry  out  this  moderate  but  sufficient 
propaganda  would  require,  say,  $30,000,- 
000  annually.  This  should  be  no  serious 
inconvenience.  Thirty  million  dollars  per 
year  would  be  only  three  twenty-fifths 
of  one  per  cent,  or  twelve  cents  out  of 
each  hundred  dollars  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  evangelical  Church  members  in  this 
country.  What  might  be  done  by  reasonable 
sacrifice  ?  The  young  people  could  provide 
this  amount  themselves  if  they  had  a  mind 
to  do  so.  An  average  of  one  cent  per  day 
from  the  more  than  5,000,000  members  en- 
rolled in  the  young  people's  societies  of 
the  churches  in  the  United  States  and  one 
cent  per  week  from  the  something  over 
13,000,000  gathered  in  the  Sunday  schools 
would  almost  supply  the  means. 

It  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe  that  the 
world's  evangelization  will  be  accomplished 
28 


Young  PuorLE  and  Missions. 

by  the  young  people  when  they  are  proper- 
ly educated.  When  Frederick  the  Great 
heard  of  the  defeat  of  his  army  on  a  cer- 
tain occasion  he  exclaimed,  "We  must  edu- 
cate." Burke  said,  ''Education  is  the  chief 
defense  of  nations."  The  Church,  like 
Hannah  the  wife  of  Elkanah,  must  bring 
her  youth  to  the  temple  and  dedicate  them 
to  be  educated  for  and  in  the  ministry  of 
the  sanctuary.  Then  she  can  say,  like 
Christ,  "Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me 
have  I  lost  none."  The  prophecy  is,  "All 
thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord." 

Achievements  of  Youth. 

If  "child"  means  one  who  is  not  yet  hard- 
ened into  maturity  the  prophecy  that  a 
"child  shall  lead  them"  may  be  fulfilled  in 
this  great  work  of  bringing  the  world  to 
Christ.  The  soldiers  who  have  won  the 
great  battles  of  modern  times  were  young 
men,  many  of  them  still  in  their  teens. 
29 


Young  Peopi^e;  and  Missions. 

General  Grant  said  in  his  Fourth  of  July 
address  at  Hamburg,  "What  saved  the 
Union  was  the  coming  forward  of  the 
young  men." 

Patrick  Henry  by  rallying  the  young  men 
of  the  Virginian  House  of  Delegates  se- 
cured the  passage  of  a  resolution  sustaining 
the  independence  of  the  colonies  and  set  a 
standard  for  the  new  world.  The  French 
Academy,  which  for  two  and  a  half  cen- 
turies has  been  so  potent  a  factor  in  shaping 
the  brilliant  literature  of  that  people,  had  its 
beginning  in  the  ardent  longings  and  as- 
pirations of  young  men,  the  oldest  of  whom, 
with  perhaps  one  exception,  were  under 
twenty-seven  years  of  age.  Pitt  entered 
Parliament  when  he  was  hardly  twenty- 
two,  and  was  Prime  Minister  of  Great  Brit- 
ain before  he  was  twenty-five. 

The  typical  missionary,  who  outlined  the 
ideal  and  set  the  pattern,  He  who  undertook 
the  most  stupendous  work  ever  enterprised, 
30 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

the  work  of  reconciling  God  with  man,  said 
at  the  age  of  thirty-three,  "It  is  finished," 
and  returned  to  heaven  from  whence  he 
came.  Saul  officially  witnessed  the  stoning 
of  Stephen  at  twenty-seven,  and  a  short  time 
after  was  commissioned  by  Christ  to  go 
bear  his  name  far  hence  to  the  Gentiles. 
Timothy  was  but  fourteen  when  converted 
and  eighteen  when  called  to  become  the  as- 
sistant to  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles. 

Adoniram  Judson  was  but  twenty-two 
when  he  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  for- 
eign mission  work,  and  started  for  India 
at  twenty-four.  Robert  Morrison  was  but 
twenty-two  when  he  was  accepted  by  the 
London  Missionary  Society  and  commis- 
sioned to  open  Christian  work  in  China. 
David  Livingstone  was  twenty-one,  Jacob 
Chamberlain  nineteen,  and  Bishop  Thoburn 
only  seventeen,  when  called  to  foreign  mis- 
sion work. 

These  ages  are  not  exceptional,  but  illus- 
31 


Young  Peoplk  and  Missions. 

trate  the  rule.  "Whenever  in  history  we 
mark  a  great  movement  of  humanity,  we 
commonly  detect  a  young  man  at  its  head  or 
at  its  heart."  It  is  quite  probable  that  when 
this  world  is  evangelized,  it  will  be  through 
the  agency  of  young  people,  occupying  the 
firing  line,  seeking  and  teaching  the  young 
people  while  the  rest  of  the  Church,  whose 
training  commenced  as  young  people  will 
supply  with  equal  devotion  the  accessories 
for  maintenance  and  expansion,  everyone 
giving  his  tithe  in  kind,  sympathy,  prayer, 
thought,  time,  and  money,  as  each  is  pos- 
sible. 

It  is  not  only  probable  that  the  young 
people  will  accomplish  the  world's  evan- 
gelization, but  the  agencies  are  well  organ- 
ized and  the  process  well  advanced.  The 
trend  of  the  evangelical  Churches  was  to 
emphasize,  through  organized  effort,  the 
importance  of  work  for  young  people ;  lat- 
terly the  trend  is  to  emphasize  the  work  by 
32 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

young  people.  Their  organizations  for  de- 
veloping knowledge,  loyalty,  and  minis- 
tries have  had  a  quiet  but  striking  evolution 
until  their  comprehensiveness,  possibilities, 
and  articulation  with  the  great  work  of  the 
world's  evangelization  are  startling  and  pro- 
phetic. 

The  Sunday  School. 

First,  as  to  number  and  date  of  organiza- 
tion, is  the  Sunday  school.  In  its  earlier 
stage  it  gathered  poor  children,  and  them 
exclusively,  and  taught  the  elements  of  edu- 
cation and  primary  religious  truths.  Sub- 
sequently it  sought  to  gather  all  children 
and  youth  for  instruction  in  Bible  truths 
and  personal  obligations.  Its  systems, 
scope,  and  efficiency  have  improved,  look- 
ing more  and  more  to  personal  experience 
and  effectiveness  in  securing  practical  and 
immediate  results. 

There  are  over  thirteen  million  gath- 
ered in  the  Sunday  schools  of  the  United 
3  33 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

States,  It  is  estimated  that  of  these  twenty 
per  cent  are  converted  during  their  attend- 
ance and  twenty  per  cent  afterward.  That 
leaves  sixty  per  cent  to  be  accounted  for, 
but  the  forty  per  cent  who  profess  conver 
sion  furnish  eighty-seven  per  cent  of  th. 
members  of  the  evangehcal  Churches,  and 
only  thirteen  per  cent  are  gathered  from 
those  who  never  had  Sunday  school  in- 
struction. The  Sunday  school  teachers 
constitute  the  vanguard  of  the  kingdom. 
If  our  Sunday  school  scholars  were  syste- 
matically trained  to  give  an  average  of  one 
cent  per  week  to  the  world's  evangelization 
it  would  amount  to  nearly  $7,000,000,  or  bt 
one  and  one  half  times  as  much  as  the  en- 
tire Protestant  Church  of  America  is  giving 
for  foreign  missions.  Systematic  work  has 
commenced  in  this  most  promising  field. 
The  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  is  the  year  of 
maximum  probability  for  conversion,  and 
the  aim  and  effort  is  becoming  more  defined 
34 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

on  the  part  of  the  Sunday  schools  to  see 
that  every  scholar  is  awakened,  converted, 
and  started  in  systematic  cooperation  v^ith 
the  Church  before  that  year  is  past.  Last 
year  there  were  more  than  2,000  normal 
classes  and  18,000  conventions  held  among 
the  workers  in  these  Sunday  schools,  and 
over  200,000  joined  the  evangelical  Church- 
es from  the  ranks  of  the  scholars. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
was  organized  in  1844.  Its  primary  object 
was  to  look  after  young  men,  who  are  sub- 
jected to  varied,  subtle,  and  serious  tempta- 
tions in  our  "homeless  cities."  Everything 
is  a  part  of  the  universe  of  God,  and  every- 
thing which  is  well  born  becomes  articu- 
lated with  his  great  purpose.  So  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  has  naturally 
broadened  its  scope,  multiplied  its  depart 
ments  of  work,  and  enriched  its  ministries. 
35 


Young  PeopIve;  and  Missions. 

The  International  Committee  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  ^Association  com- 
menced systematically  to  develop  the  Stu- 
dent Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
work  in  1877.  The  movement  includes 
nearly  every  leading  college  and  university 
in  North  America.  "Its  object  is  to  lead 
students  to  be  intelligent  and  loyal  disciples 
of  Jesus  Christ,  to  train  them  in  individual 
and  associated  Christian  work,  and  to  in- 
fluence them  to  place  their  lives  where  they 
can  best  serve  their  generation."  Through 
secretaries,  training  conferences,  Bible, 
mission,  normal,  and  other  study  classes, 
special  literature  and  deputation  men,  its 
work  has  been  systematically  pushed  until 
it  has  come  to  be  a  chief  influence  in  our 
leading  institutions  for  promoting  the  king- 
dom in  the  lives  of  the  students.  In  State 
and  undenominational  institutions  it  has^ 
well-nigh  the  monopoly  of  this  work.  Large- 
ly through  its  efficiency  the  colleges  and 
36 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

universities  have  come  to  be  the  most  Chris- 
tian communities  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  "Taking  the  young  men  of  North 
America  as  a  whole,  not  more  than  eight 
per  cent,  or  one  in  twelve,  are  Christians. 
In  1902  a  careful  census,  taken  in  356  of 
our  colleges  and  universities,  showed  that 
of  83,000  young  men  fifty-two  per  cent,  or 
more  than  one  half  of  the  student  body, 
were  members  of  evangelical  Churches. 
Twenty-five  years  previous  the  proportion 
was  less  than  one  third." — John  R.  Mott. 

The  virility  of  this  movement  makes  it 
a  great  deal  more  than  a  home  missionary 
organization.  The  student  type  of  religion 
is  manly  and  practical.  "Their  religious  life 
is  based  upon  a  personal  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  Christian  evidences,  and  not  least 
helpful  in  shaping  their  faith  has  been  the 
influence  of  the  presentation  and  study  of 
the  facts  of  Christian  missions."  For  years 
past  students  have  been  the  largest  pur- 
37 


Young  Peoplk  and  Missions. 

chasers  of  missionary  books.  They  beHeve 
with  Bishop  Whately:  "If  our  reHgion  is 
not  true  we  ought  to  change  it.  If  it  is 
true  we  are  bound  to  propagate  what  we 
beHeve  to  be  the  truth." 

Student  Volunteer  Movement, 

"The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for 
Foreign  Missions,"  a  special  branch  of  this 
work,  was  organized  in  1888.  It  works 
among  the  most  potential  class  in  the  Chris- 
tian world  and  seeks  to  bring  them  to  the 
highest  service  in  ministry  to  others.  The 
appeal  is  to  conscience,  conviction,  conse- 
cration, courage,  and  character.  The 
Volunteers  are  among  those  of  strongest 
personality,  largest  equipment,  and  greatest 
efficiency.  Through  this  agency  about 
9,000  students  have  volunteered  in  the  past 
fifteen  years;  a  large  proportion  of  these 
are  still  at  college  preparing,  but  about 
3,000  are  actually  in  the  field,  and  many 
38 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

more  would  be  if  the  Church  had  been 
ready  to  send  them.  A  recruiting  agency 
has  thus  been  offered  the  Church  the  hke 
of  which  she  had  never  known. 

Student  Christian  Federation. 
The  World's  Student  Christian  Federa- 
tion, organized  in  1895,  includes  13  national 
organizations,  over  1,500  separate  associa- 
tions or  unions,  and  about  90  per  cent  of 
the  institutions  of  higher  education  of  the 
entire  world,  with  a  total  membership  of 
over  80,000  students  and  professors.     An 
associated  Christian  effort  has  thus  united 
more  students  around  the  cross  of  the  con- 
quering Jesus  than  any  other  intercollegiate 
organization,  athletic,  literary,  fraternal,  or 
political.    "As  go  the  universities  so  go  the 
nations." 

This  Federation  is  concerned,  in  purpose 
at  least,  with  the  moral  and  religious  wel- 
fare of  two  thirds  of  the  young  men  of  the 
39 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

human  race.  The  movement  is  now  look- 
ing toward  the  8,000  secondary  schools  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  with  their 
275,000  boys  as  the  key  to  the  colleges  and 
universities.  Of  the  375,000  members  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in 
this  country  45,035  are  boys  under  sixteen 
years  of  age. 

The  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, working  along  similar  lines,  with 
similar  results,  was  organized  in  1855,  and 
numbers  537  associations  with  a  member- 
ship of  67,708. 

Young  People's  Societies. 

The  young  people  who  never  go  to 
college  far  exceed  in  number  those  who  do. 
They  also  are  organizing  and  are  being 
trained  for  and  enlisted  in  this  great  work. 
This  indicates  a  third  line  of  preparation 
for  the  world's  evangelization. 

The  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian 
40 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

Endeavor,  the  Epworth  League,  the  Bap- 
tist Young  People's  Union,  the  Christian 
Union  of  United  Brethren,  the  Young 
People's  Union  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church,  the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and 
Philip,  and  other  smaller  associations,  in- 
clude an  aggregate  membership,  not  count- 
ing any  twice,  of  somewhat  over  5,000,000, 
or  about  twenty-eight  per  cent  of  the  evan- 
gelical Church  members  of  the  United 
States. 

Horizon  and  inspiration,  purpose  and  up- 
lift have  come  to  the  young  people  through 
the  great  conventions  held  by  these  various 
organizations.  Growth  is  as  natural  to 
young  people  as  enthusiasm.  It  is  signifi- 
cant that  their  conventions  are  approximat- 
ing the  conference  fdea.  They  are  stress- 
ing more  and  more  Bible,  mission,  and  nor- 
mal study,  study  of  the  various  fields,  prob- 
lems, phases,  and  methods  of  church  life 
and  work.  Their  programs  provide  for  less 
41 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

rhetoric  and  more  facts.  Those  who  have 
brought  things  to  pass  are  invited  to  con- 
tribute of  their  experiences,  explain  meth- 
ods, and  answer  questions.  These  organi- 
zations in  their  local  chapters  associate 
young  people  together  for  specific  religious 
purposes,  spiritual,  missionary,  charitable, 
literary,  and  social.  They  make  the  young 
people  accessible  to  systematic  instruction 
and  develop  organized  and  individual  effort, 
skill,  and  efficiency,  and  beget  a  personal 
sense  of  responsibility  and  achievement. 
They  have  vast  possibilities  and  are  gradu- 
ally occupying  them. 

Only  about  two  per  cent  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States  who  reach  twenty- 
three  years  of  age  without  a  clear  personal 
identification  with  Christ  and  his  Church 
ever  become  Christians.  The  young 
people's  societies  are  developing  a  spirit  of 
cooperation  with  the  churches  to  see  by  all 
possible  means  that  everyone  who  can  be 
42 


Young  Pkoplk  and  Missions. 

reached  is  thoroughly  indoctrinated  in  the 
Scriptures,  estabHshed  in  habits  of  pro- 
portionate giving,  and  personally  identified 
with  evangelical  work  before  he  reaches 
that  age. 

Technically  the  term  young  people  ap- 
plies only  till  the  end  of  adolescence  or,  say, 
through  the  twenty-second  year.  It  requires 
an  average  of,  say,  approximately,  30,000 
young  people  and  65,000  "children  to  be  re- 
cruited every  week  through  the  year  to 
maintain  the  membership  of  the  young 
people's  societies  and  Sunday  schools  at 
their  present  enrollment,  so  the  young 
people's  societies  present  a  constant  demand 
for  new  and  well-trained  leaders,  and  the 
work  of  the  Sunday  schools  creates  similar 
requirements  with  growing  urgency. 

Young  People's  Missionary  Movement. 

The  fourth  stage  in  this  development  of 
organized  young  people's  agencies  for  the 
43 


Young  Pe;opi:.e  and  Amissions. 

world's  evangelization  is  "The  Young 
People's  Missionary  Movement,"  which 
was  born  of  an  oppressive  sense  of  need 
that  the  ever-changing  membership  of  the 
young  people's  societies  and  Sunday  schools 
should  have  trained  leaders,  up-to-date  alike 
in  the  wisdom  of  the  past  and  demands  of 
the  present,  capable  to  give  direction  to  the 
systematic  and  practical  stud}^  of  the  word 
and  work  of  God.  The  most  successful 
workers  in  these  fields  keenly  recognize  this 
need.  The  Young  People's  Missionary 
Movement  has  its  Executive  Committee  of 
fifteen,  approved  or  selected  by  the  Mission- 
ary Boards  of  the  various  Churches,  its 
Board  Council,  and  its  secretary,  with  a 
well-equipped  office. 

Its  organization  was  not  premeditated, 
but  providential.  It  is  purely  supplemen- 
tary to  the  work  of  the  Church  universal 
and  in  no  sense  intended  to  supplant  any 
branch  of  it.  It  stands  for  the  broadest 
^4 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

catholicity  through  an  enriching  and  en- 
riched denominationaUsm.  Each  Church 
may  best  train  its  own  leaders,  but  where 
can  the  leaders  of  these  leaders  be  trained 
so  efficiently  as  in  an  interdenominational 
conference  by  denominational  specialists? 
This  is  the  object  of  the  Young  People's 
Missionary  Movement.  It  brings  together 
specialists  from  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  the  Sunday  school,  the 
secretaries  of  the  various  Mission  Boards, 
returned  missionaries,  the  leading  educa- 
tional institutions  and  representative  pul- 
pits, to  give  instruction  in  its  Conferences. 
It  is  a  clearing  house  of  facts  and  ideas,  a 
school  of  methods,  a  dynamo  of  inspiration 
for  both  home  and  foreign  mission  workers, 
where  each  labors  for  all  and  all  serve  each. 
This  fourth  development  marks  the 
equipping  and  constructive  stage  through 
which  key  workers  may  be  selected,  en- 
riched, and  trained  more  thoroughly  than 
45 


Young  Pe;ople:  and  Missions. 

ever  before  to  lead  in  the  specific  work  of 
organizing  and  developing  the  young  peo- 
ple through  their  own  denominational  so- 
cieties and  Sunday  schools.  Though  the 
first  preliminary  meeting,  out  of  which  has 
grown  this  organization,  was  held  in  De- 
cember, 1901,  it  has  conducted  four  confer- 
ences, attended  by  more  than  900  workers 
among  young  people,  from  about  30  de- 
nominations. In  response  to  numerous  in- 
vitations, plans  are  being  perfected  to  hold 
three  of  its  conferences  next  year,  one  each 
at  Silver  Bay  on  Lake  George,  at  Lookout 
Mountain,  and  in  the  Middle  West.'  No 
one  may  estimate  the  importance  of  this 
organization,  which  promises  to  become  a 
movement  of  movements. 

New  Type  oe  Convention  or  Training 
Conference. 

Arrangements  have  been  completed  for 
the    first    of    a    series    of    denominational 
46 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

Young  People's  Missionary  and  Bible 
Study  Conventions,  to  be  held  at  Buffalo 
next  week,  where  a  number  of  workers 
from  the  Young  People's  Missionary 
Movement  will  assist  in  the  exercises.  It 
will  include  i,ooo  delegates  from  the  Ep- 
worth  Leagues  and  Sunday  schools  of  the 
Genesee  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  Its  object  is  to  train  leaders 
who  will  be  able  to  organize  and  direct 
Bible  or  IMission  Study  Classes  in  every 
congregation,  Epworth  League,  and  Sun- 
day school  within  the  bounds  of  that  Con- 
ference.* Other  denominations  are  pre- 
paring to  reproduce  these  Normal  Confer- 
ences for  their  young  people. 


*  It  met  as  proposed,  was  a  great  success,  and  by  a  ris- 
ing vote  unanimously  pledged  itself  to  the  following  pol- 
icy. First,  A  Mission  Study  Class  or  a  Bible  Study  Class 
in  every  pastoral  charge  in  the  Genesee  Conference. 
Second,  A  contribution  of  $1  to  the  Missionary  Society 
from  every  member  and  probationer  as  a  minimum;  the 
maximum  to  be  according  to  ability.  Third,  A  monthly 
missionary  exercise  in  every  Sunday  school  in  the  Con- 
ference. 

47 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

Young  People's  Secretaries. 

The  leading  denominations  are  recogniz- 
ing the  opportunity  and  obHgation  which 
these  converging  hnes  of  organized  young 
people's  work  create.  Thirteen  of  the  prin- 
cipal Mission  Boards  have  appointed  secre- 
taries or  assistant  secretaries,  under  the 
direction  of  standing  committees,  to  give 
their  time  and  energy,  in  v/hole  or  in  part, 
to  specially  foster  and  develop  the  study 
and  work  of  missions  among  the  young 
people  of  their  churches. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Plans  and 
Results. 

Perhaps  none  other  has  made  so  thor- 
ough provision  or  as  yet  secured  such 
striking  results  as  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Its  Discipline  provides  for  the  or- 
ganization of  each  of  its  33,000  Sunday 
schools  into  a  Missionary  Society,  also  for 
48    ^ 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

the  supervision  and  the  holding  of  a  month- 
ly meeting  and  an  anniversary  of  each  so- 
ciety. They  gave  $432,000  for  Missions 
last  year,  and  are  showing  a  healthy  growth 
in  intelligent  sympathy  and  practical  aid. 

Our  Board  of  Education,  with  funds  se- 
cured principally  through  the  collections 
taken  annually  on  Children's  Day,  has  as- 
sisted 12,411  young  people  from  our  Sun- 
day schools  to  an  advanced  education.  Of 
these  7,182  became  ministers,  863  mission- 
aries, and  2,586  teachers.  One  quarter  of 
the  missionaries  of  the  Woman's  Foreign 
]\Iissionary  Society,  and  twenty-eight  per 
cent  of  the  foreign  missionaries  of  the 
Parent  Board  were  assisted  during  their 
preparation  by  this  society. 

The  Epworth  League  occupies  high 
ground  in  its  work  for  world  evangeliza- 
tion. It  requires  a  standing  committee  to 
be  appointed  in  every  chapter  and  organi- 
zation, under  the  chairmanship  of  the  sec- 
4  49 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

end  vice  president,  to  which  is  committed 
the  Department  of  World  Evangelism,  in- 
cluding Christian  stewardship,  Church  be- 
nevolences, and  the  various  forms  of  mis- 
sionary activity  and  study.  IMission  study 
is  a  regular  feature  of  its  educational  plan. 
It  regularly  prints  outlines  and  suggestions 
for  mission  and  Bible  study  rally  days  and 
monthly  missionary  topics  on  its  topic  cards 
and  in  its  official  organ.  Last  year  it  gave 
direction  to  482  mission  study  classes,  with 
an  enrollment  of  6,102,  systematically  study- 
ing the  prescribed  courses,  and  a  great 
many  classes  were  not  officially  reported. 
In  three  years  over  13,000  have  been  en- 
rolled in  its  mission  study  classes.  A  total 
of  17,180  copies  of  Studies  in  the  Life  of 
Christ,  and  many  copies  of  its  other  Bible 
study  courses,  were  in  use  last  year. 

The    Missionary    Society    has    a    young 
people's  secretary  and  a  missionary  editor 
with  well-organized  offices.     These  are  di- 
50 


Young  PiiOPLK  and  Missions. 

rectcd  by  a  standing  committee  of  the 
Board  and,  together  with  the  Epworth 
League,  Board  of  Education,  the  Sunday 
School  Union,  and  the  Woman's  Foreign 
and  Woman's  Home  Missionary  Societies, 
are  doing  a  great  work  among  our  young 
people,  and  constantly  making  more  mani- 
fest the  demands  and  possibilities  of  this 
vast  field.  They  are  creating  and  circu- 
lating literature,  planning  for  and  assisting 
at  conventions,  preparing  and  displaying 
missionary  exhibits,  conducting  corre- 
spondence, and  directing  student  campaigns 
and  campaigners.  Last  year,  under  the  di- 
rection of  our  young  people's  secretary,  30 
colleges  were  visited  and  conferences  held 
to  train  campaigners,  and  132  campaigners 
were  placed  in  the  field  to  organize  and  con- 
duct missionary  and  Bible  study  classes, 
circulate  literature,  and  locate  missionary 
libraries.  During  the  year  cards,  leaflets, 
and  pamphlets,  aggregating  700,000  pieces, 
51 


Young  Pe:opIve;  and  Missions. 

were  printed  and  sent  out  by  the  Young 
People's  Department  and  the  Epworth 
League,  on  Missions,  Bible  Study,  Stew- 
ardship, and  General  Benevolences,  This 
includes  nearly  70,000  circular  letters. 
The  official  organs  of  the  Sunday  School 
Union,  the  Epworth  League,  the  Parent 
Board,  and  both  the  Woman's  Missionary 
Societies  are  stressing  mission  study  and 
mission  work  among  the  young. 

Two  Missionary  Campaign  Libraries  have 
been  published,  one  of  16  volumes,  the  other 
of  20  volumes,  and  6,348  sets,  or  111,472 
volumes,  have  been  sold.  Missionary  text- 
books and  helps  are  being  prepared  in  con- 
nection with  the  Society  of  Christian  En- 
deavor, and  a  most  comprehensive  plan  is 
being  developed  in  connection  with  "The 
Young  People's  Missionary  Movement," 
having  as  its  object  the  coordination  of  the 
young  people  and  woman's  Boards  of  all 
the  churches  in  the  study  of  missions,  one 
52 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

country  being  particularized  each  year. 
The  far-reaching  influence  of  this  is  be- 
yond calculation. 

Four  Great  Movements. 

Each  of  the  four  great  movements,  the 
Sunday  School,  the  Young  Men's  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations, 
the  Young  People's  Societies,  and  the 
Young  People's  Missionary  Movement,  has 
its  distinctive  field  and  commission,  but 
they  naturally  overlap  and  supplement  each 
the  other.  All  are  the  legitimate  children 
of  the  Church  which  begat  and  nurtures 
them.  She  rejoices  in  their  development. 
Their  success  is  her  honor,  and  they  are 
honored  in  being  able  to  aid  with  growing 
efficiency  in  preparing  her  for  "the  coming  of 
Him  who  is  Lord  of  all.  The  Church 
which  neglects  her  young  people  "proves 
herself  improvident  and  must  neither  won- 
der nor  complain  if  Heaven  leaves  her  noth- 
53 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

ing  to  nurse  but  her  own  desolation."  What 
is  true  of  the  Churches  in  the  United  States 
in  their  relation  to  this  great  problem,  is  in 
a  measure  true  of  all  the  Churches  and 
lands  of  Christendom. 

Vision  Through  the  Holy  Spirit, 

Nothing  is  accomplished  without  zision. 
Those  through  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
its  most  efficient  work  are  the  seers,  those 
who  see  the  vision  of  God  and  of  human 
opportunity.  They  have  the  first  qualifi 
cation  for  leadership  in  the  world's  evan 
gelization.  We  are  now  living  in  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  it  was 
promised,  "Your  young  men  shall  see  vi- 
sions," and  the  spirit  of  teaching  shall  be 
given  to  your  sons  and  daughters.  Surely, 
"The  light  that  never  was  on  sea  or  land" 
is  the  illumination  of  these  organized  activi- 
ties of  the  young  people. 

Their  responsibility  and  their  goal  is  the 
54 


YouxG  PEorLii  AND  Missions. 

world's  evangelization.  Their  challenge  is 
to  the  host  of  God.  Their  activity,  devel- 
opment, organization,  and  spirit  give  hope 
that  in  and  through  the  young  people — who 
rapidly  transform  knowledge  into  power 
and  are  teeming  with  that  joyous  fullness 
of  creative  life  which  radiates  thoughts  as 
inspirations  and  dissipates  "the  torpor  of 
narrow  vision  and  indolent  ignorance"  by 
the  irresistible  power  of  the  broad  human 
gladness  found  in  a  life  of  unselfish  love  of 
their  kind — the  desire  of  God  shall  be  real- 
ized, "who  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved, 
and  to  come  unto  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth." 

55 


11. 


THE  CHURCH'S  IMPERATIVE 
DUTY. 

By  JOHN  R.  MOTT,  M.A, 

It  is  the  imperative  duty  of  the  Church 
to  evangeHze  the  world  in  this  generation. 
What  is  meant  by  the  evangehzation  of  the 
world  in  this  generation  ?  It  means  to  give 
every  person  an  adequate  opportunity  to 
know  Jesus  Christ  as  personal  Saviour  and 
Lord.  We  do  not  mean  the  conversion  of 
the  world  in  this  generation.  We  do  not 
imply  a  hasty  or  superficial  preaching  of 
the  Gospel.  We  do  not  use  the  expression 
as  a  prophecy.  It  calls  attention  to  what 
may  and  ought  to  be  done,  not  necessarily 
to  what  is  actually  going  to  occur.  We  do 
not  minimize  the  importance  of  any  method 
56 


The  Church's  Imperative  Duty. 

of  missionary  work  which  has  been  and  is 
being  used  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  We  rather 
add  emphasis  to  all  the  regular  forms  of 
missionary  work,  such  as  educational,  med- 
ical, literary,  and  evangelistic.  As  Dr.  Den- 
nis says,  "The  evangelistic  method  must 
not  be  regarded  as  monopolizing  the  evan- 
gelistic aim,  which  should  itself  pervade  all 
the  other  methods."  The  evangelization  of 
the  world  in  this  generation  should  not  be 
regarded  as  an  end  in  itself.  The  Church 
will  not  have  fulfilled  her  task  when  the 
Gospel  has  been  preached  to  all  men.  Such 
evangelization  must  be  followed  by  baptism 
of  the  converts,  by  their  organization  into 
churches,  by  building  them  up  in  knowl- 
edge, faith,  and  character,  and  by  training 
them  for  service.  The  great  objective 
should  be  always  kept  in  mind,  namely,  the 
planting  and  developing  in  all  non-Christian 
lands  of  self-supporting,  self-directing,  and 
self-propagating  churches. 

57. 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

Trustees  oe  the  Gospel. 

It  is  the  obligation  of  the  Church  to  evan- 
gehze  the  world  in  this  generation.  It  is 
our  duty  because  all  men  need  Christ.  The 
Scriptures  clearly  teach  that  if  men  are  to 
be  saved  they  must  be  saved  through 
Christ.  The  burning  question  then  is,  Shall 
hundreds  of  millions  of  men  now  living, 
who  need  Christ,  and  who  are  capable  of 
receiving  help  from  him,  pass  away  with- 
out having  even  the  opportunity  to  know 
him?  To  have  a  knowledge  of  Christ  is  to 
incur  a  responsibility  to  every  man  who  has 
not.  We  are  trustees  of  the  Gospel,  and  in 
no  sense  sole  proprietors.  What  a  crime 
against  mankind  to  keep  a  knowledge  of 
the  mission  of  Christ  from  two  thirds  of  the 
human  race!  It  is  our  duty  to  evangelize 
the  world  in  this  generation,  because  of  the 
missionary  command  of  Christ.  It  seems 
impossible  to  explain  the  final  commission 
58 


The  Church's  Imperativk  Duty, 

of  Christ  as  given  in  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark, 
St.  Luke,  and  the  Acts,  as  not  implying  that 
each  generation  of  Christians  shoukl  at 
least  preach  Christ  to  its  own  known  and 
accessible  world.  This  was  obviously  the 
interpretation  placed  upon  the  final  commis- 
sion by  the  Christians  of  the  first  genera- 
tion. 

Every  reason  for  doing  the  work  of  evan- 
gelization at  all  demands  that  it  be  done  not 
only  thoroughly,  but  also  as  speedily  as  pos- 
sible. We  are  responsible  for  the  present 
generation — for  those  who  are  living  at  the 
same  time  with  ourselves.  The  Christians 
of  the  past  generation  could  not  reach  them, 
neither  can  the  Christians  of  succeeding 
generations.  Obviously  each  generation  of 
Christians  must  evangelize  its  own  genera- 
tion of  non-Christians  if  they  are  ever  to  be 
evangelized.  The  present  generation  is  one 
of  unexampled  crisis  in  all  parts  of  the  un- 
evangelized  world.  Failure  now  will  make 
59 


Young  Pejople  and  Missions. 

the  future  task  very  much  more  difficult. 
It  is  also  one  of  marvelous  opportunity. 
The  world  is  better  known  and  more  acces- 
sible, its  needs  are  more  articulate  and  intel- 
ligible, and  our  ability  to  go  into  all  the 
world  with  the  Gospel  is  greater  than  in  any 
preceding  generation.  The  forces  of  sin 
are  not  delaying  their  work,  but  with  world- 
wide enterprise  and  ceaseless  vigor  they  are 
seeking  to  accomplish  their  deadly  work. 

The  World's  Evangelization  Possible. 

We  do  not  ignore  the  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  making  Christ  known  to  the  present 
generation — difficulties  physical,  political, 
social,  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious.  It 
is  well,  however,  to  be  on  our  guard  against 
the  tendency  to  magnify  difficulties  unduly, 
and  to  minimize  the  providential  opportuni- 
ties, the  promises  of  God,  and  the  resources 
of  the  witnesses  and  ambassadors  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

60 


The  Church's  Imtkrative  Duty. 

It  is  possible  to  evangelize  the  world  in 
this  generation.  It  will  help  us  to  realize 
this  possibility  if  we  look  at  a  number  of 
considerations. 

It  is  possible  in  view  of  the  achievements 
of  the   Christians  of  the  first  generation. 
They  did  more  to  accomplish  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  world  than  has  any  succeeding 
generation.      Their    achievements    are    re- 
markable when  viewed  numerically,  or  when 
we  consider  how  all  classes  of  society  were 
reached.    The  persecutions  of  the  first  and 
second  centuries,  the  fierce  literary  attacks 
against  Christianity,  and  the  strong  apolo- 
gies in  its  defense,  attest  how  vigorously  the 
faith  of  Christ  must  have  been  propagated 
by  the  first  disciples.     These  achievements 
seem  very  remarkable  when  we  remember 
that  at  the  time  of  the  ascension  of  Christ 
the  whole  number  of  believers  did  not  ex- 
ceed a  few  hundred.     They  seem  all  the 
more  wonderful  in  the  light  of  the  fact  that 
6i 


Young  People  and  AIissions. 

the  early  Christians  had  to  meet  practically 
every  difficulty  which  confronts  the  Church 
to-day.  As  we  recall  the  smallness  of  their 
number  and  the  difficulties  which  beset  their 
path  and,  on  the  other  hand,  remind  our- 
selves not  only  of  our  obstacles,  but  also  of 
the  marvelous  opportunities  and  resources 
of  the  Church  to-da}',  shall  we  not  agree 
with  Dr.  Storrs  that  the  balance  of  advan- 
tage is  with  us  of  this  generation?  In 
studying  the  secret  of  what  they  accom- 
plished one  is  led  to  the  conclusion  that 
they  employed  no  vitally  important  method 
which  cannot  be  used  to-day,  and  that  they 
availed  themselves  of  no  power  which  we 
also  cannot  utilize. 

Recent  Missionary  Achievements. 

It  is  possible  to  evangelize  the  world  in 

this  generation  in  view  of  recent  missionary 

achievements  of  the  Church.  Note  the  work 

of  the  Presbyterians  in  Korea ;  of  the  Rus- 

62 


ThK    CllL'RCU's    I.MPDRATIVK    DUTV. 

sians,  as  well  as  of  some  of  the  Protestant 
Churches,  in  Japan;  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  the  American  Board  in  the 
Fukien  Province ;  of  the  London  Mission- 
ary Society  in  Central  China ;  of  the  China 
Inland  JNlission  in  the  interior  provinces  of 
China ;  of  the  United  Presbyterians  of 
Scotland,  and  the  Irish  Presbyterians  in 
Manchuria ;  of  the  American  Board  in  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  the  Wesleyans  in  the  Fiji 
Islands,  and  of  Dr.  Paton  in  the  New 
Plebrides  ;  of  the  American  Baptists  among 
the  Karens,  and  also  among  the  Telugus ; 
of  the  Gossner  Alission  among  the  Kols 
during  its  first  twenty  years ;  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  and  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Southern  In- 
dia ;  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
Northern  India ;  of  the  Reformed  Church 
in  India,  and  also  in  Arabia ;  of  the  Ger- 
man Lutherans  on  the  island  of  Sumatra ;  of 
63 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

the  London  Mission  and  the  Norwegian 
Lutherans  in  Madagascar;  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  in  Uganda,  the  Baptists 
on  the  Congo,  the  Southern  Presbyterians 
at  Luebo,  and  the  United  Presbyterians  in 
the  Nile  valley.  Recall  the  medical  work 
of  Dr.  Clark  at  Amritsar,  Dr.  Kerr  at  Can- 
ton, Dr.  Post  at  Beirut,  the  Ranaghat  Med- 
ical Mission  in  Bengal,  the  Tientsin  Hos- 
pital, and  of  many  other  medical  missiona- 
ries in  all  parts  of  the  wide  world-field. 
Think  also  of  Duff  College ;  the  Woman's 
College  at  Lucknow;  the  colleges  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  and  the  Amer- 
ican Board  in  Southern  India;  the  Jaffna 
College  and  the  Oodooville  Girls'  School  in 
Ceylon ;  the  True  Light  Seminary  in  Can- 
ton ;  the  Anglo-Chinese  College  at  Foo- 
chow  ;  Dr.  Mateer's  college  at  Tung  Chow  ; 
the  Training  Institute  at  Tung  Chow ;  the 
early  history  of  the  Doshisha ;  the  Wom- 
en's College  at  Nagasaki;  the  Euphrates 
64 


Thk  Church's  Imperative  Duty. 

College ;  the  Syrian  Protestant  College ;  the 
college  at  Asyut,  Egypt,  and  many  others. 
Xor  should  we  overlook  the  vital  relation 
which  literary  work  has  had  and  always  will 
have  to  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 
The  patient  and  thorough  work  of  the  hun- 
dreds of  missionaries  who  have  devoted 
themselves  to  the  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  Christian  literature,  the  ceaseless 
activity  of  the  scores  of  mission  presses  like 
those  at  Beirut,  Shanghai,  and  Calcutta,  and 
the  wonderful  achievements  of  the  Bible  so- 
cieties in  all  lands,  which  have  multiplied 
the  power  and  influence  of  all  other  workers 
and  agencies,  and  sown  the  seed  of 'the 
kingdom  far  and  wide.  The  most  striking 
example  of  achievement  on  the  home  field  in 
the  interest  of  foreign  missions  is  that  of 
the  ^Moravians.  The}'  have  done  more  in 
proportion  to  their  ability  than  any  other 
body  of  Christians.  If  the  members  of 
Protestant  churches  in  Great  Britain  and 
5  65 


Young  Peoplk  and  ^Missions. 

America  gave  in  like  proportion  their  mis- 
sionary contributions  would  aggregate  over 
$60,000,000,  or  a  fourfold  increase.  And 
if  they  went  out  as  missionaries  in  cor- 
responding numbers  we  would  have  a  force 
of  nearly  four  hundred  thousand  foreign 
workers,  which  is  vastly  more  than  the  num- 
ber of  missionaries  estimated  as  necessary 
to  achieve  the  evangelization  of  the  world 
in  a  generation.  The  point  up  to  which  I 
have  been  leading  in  this  long  catalogue  of 
illustrations  is  this :  What  has  there  been  in 
connection  with  the  work  already  accom- 
plished which  is  not  reproducible?  In  view 
of  the  extent  to  which  the  Gospel  has 
already  been  thoroughly  preached,  whether 
with  or  without  apparent  results,  by  a  com- 
paratively small  number  of  workers,  it  does 
seem  reasonable  to  expect  that  by  a  judi- 
cious increase  and  proper  distribution  of  all 
missionary  agencies  which  have  commended 
themselves  to  the  Church,  an  adequate  op- 
66 


The  Church's  Imi'krativk  Duty. 

portunity  to  know  Christ  as  Saviour  and 
Lord  might  be  given  to  all  people  within 
our  day. 

The  Church's  Resources  and  Agencies. 

It  is  possible  to  evangelize  the  world  in 
this  generation  in  view  of  the  opportunities 
and  resources  of  the  Church  and  the  facil- 
ities at  her  disposal.  We  must  not  measure 
the  present  ability  of  the  Church  by  the 
standards  and  practice  of  a  Church  in  the 
past,  only  half  awake  to  her  duty  to  the 
non-Christian  world,  and  under  far  less 
favorable  conditions  for  world-wide  mis- 
sionary operations.  It  hardly  seems  right 
to  call  a  thing  impossible  or  impracticable 
which  has  not  been  attempted.  Livingstone 
said,  ''You  don't  know  what  you  can  do 
until  you  try.''  The  world-wide  proclama- 
tion of  the  Gospel  awaits  accomplishment 
by  a  generation  which  shall  have  the  obedi- 
ence and  determination  to  attempt  the  task. 
67 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the 
Church,  practically  the  whole  world  is  open. 
We  are  not  justified  in  saying  that  there  is 
a  single  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
where  the  Church,  if  she  seriously  desires, 
cannot  send  ambassadors  of  Christ  to  pro- 
claim his  message. 

Members,  Workers,  and  Money. 

The  Church  not  only  has  an  unexampled 
opportunity,  but  also  possesses  remarkable 
resources.  Think  of  her  membership !  There 
are  not  less  than  135,000,000  members  of 
Protestant  Churches,  In  the  British  Isles, 
the  United  States,  Canada,  and  Australasia 
alone  there  are  over  25,000,000  communi- 
cants in  evangelical  Protestant  Churches. 
Contrast  these  with  the  few  thousands  con- 
stituting the  small,  unacknowledged,  and 
despised  sect  which,  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, began  the  evangelization  of  the  then 
known  and  accessible  world.  As  we  recall 
68 


TiiK  Church's  Imperative  Duty. 

tlic  achievements  of  that  infant  Church,  can 
we  question  the  ahihly  of  the  Christians  of 
our  day,  were  they  unitedly  to  resolve  to  ac- 
complish it,  so  to  distribute  within  the  pres- 
ent generation  the  Gospel  messengers  and 
agencies  that  all  mankind  might  have  an 
opportunity  to  know  Christ,  the  Saviour  and 
Lord  ? 

We  have  workers  enough  to  send.  It 
would  take  less  than  one  fiftieth  of  the 
Christian  }-oung  men  and  women  who 
will  go  out  from  Christian  colleges  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada  within 
this  generation  to  furnish  a  sufficient 
force  of  foreign  workers  to  achieve  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  gen- 
eration. When  we  add  the  Christian 
students  of  Britain,  the  Continent,  and 
Australasia,  it  will  be  seen  that  we  can  well 
alTord  to  spare  the  workers.  Their  going 
forth  will  quicken  and  strengthen,  rather 
than  weaken,  the  entire  Church. 
69 


Young  Peopi^e  and  Missions. 

The  money  power  of  the  Church  is  enor- 
mous. If  only  one  fourth  of  the  Protes- 
tants of  Europe,  Australasia,  and  America 
give  but  one  cent  a  day  toward  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world,  it  would  yield  a 
fund  of  over  $100,000,000,  as  contrasted 
with  about  $20,000,000  given  during  the 
past  year.  Dr.  Josiah  Strong  said,  twenty 
years  ago:  "There  is  money  enough  in  the 
hands  of  Church  members  to  sow  every  acre 
of  the  earth  with  the  seed  of  truth.  .  .  . 
God  has  intrusted  to  his  children  power 
enough  to  give  the  Gospel  to  every  creature 
by  the  close  of  this  century ;  but  it  is  being 
misapplied.  Indeed,  the  world  would  have 
been  evangelized  long  ago  if  Christians  had 
perceived  the  relation  of  money  to  the  king- 
dom and  accepted  their  stewardship." 

Organizations. 

With  over  five  hundred  missionary  so- 
cieties   and   auxilaries   there   are,   without 
70 


Thk  Chukch's  iMrKRA'rivic  Duty. 

doubt,  missionary  organizations  and  socie- 
ties in  sufficient  number,  and  possessing 
sufficient  strength  and  experience  to  guide 
an  enterprise  indefinitely  larger  than  the 
present  missionary  operations  of  the 
Church. 

The  Bible  societies,  not  less  than  80  in 
number,  have  translated  the  Scriptures  en- 
tirely or  in  part  into  421  languages  and  dia- 
lects. If  this  work  is  properly  promoted, 
before  this  generation  closes,  each  African, 
each  Pacific  islander,  and  each  inhabitant 
of  Asia  will  be  able  to  read  or  hear  in  his 
own  tongue  "the  wonderful  works  of  God." 

The  organized  Christian  student  move- 
ments constitute  a  factor  characteristic  of 
this  generation.  There  are  14  of  these 
national  or  international  student  move- 
ments, comprising  over  1,600  Christian  as- 
sociations, with  a  membership  of  nearly 
90,000  students  and  professors.  They  are 
seeking  to  make  the  universities  and  col- 
71 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

leges  strongholds  and  propagating  centers 
for  aggressive  Christianity.  Out  of  them 
has  come  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
for  Foreign  Missions,  which  has  in  itself 
become  a  great  factor  in  the  world's  evan- 
gelization. It  has  enrolled  thousands  of 
students  as  volunteers  for  foreign  service. 
Fully  3,000  of  them  have  already  reached 
the  fields.  The  Church,  in  possessing  this 
important  recruiting  and  training  agency,  is 
equipped  as  in  no  preceding  age  for  a 
world-embracing  evangelistic  campaign. 

The  various  Christian  young  people's  or- 
ganizations which  have  been  developed 
within  the  past  two  decades  have  added  tre- 
mendously to  the  power  of  the  Church. 
In  North  America  alone  these  movements 
include  fully  6,000,000  young  people. 
These  young  people  themselves,  if  proper- 
ly educated  and  guided,  are  able  tO  give 
and  to  raise  each  year  a  sum  large  enough 
to  support  all  the  foreign  missionaries  who 
72 


Tiuc  Church's  Impi;rativic  Duty. 

would  be  required  to  accomplish  the  evan- 
gelizatiou  of  the  world. 

The  Suuday  schools  constitute  a  large, 
undeveloped  missionary  resource.  They 
contain  over  20,000,000  scholars.  If  these 
were  trained  to  give  two  cents  a  week  it 
would  yield  an  amount  greater  than  the 
present  total  missionary  gifts  of  Christen- 
dom. 

The  native  Church  is  the  human  resource 
which  affords  largest  promise  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world.  It  has  1,500,000 
communicants  and  nearly  5,000,000  adher- 
ents. The  character  and  activity  of  these 
Christians  compares  very  favorably  with 
that  of  Church  members  in  Christian  lands. 
There  are  nearly  80,000  native  workers, 
and  their  number  and  efficiency  are  rapidly 
increasing.  There  are  1,000,000  children 
and  young  people  in  the  various  mission 
schools  and  institutions.  From  the  ranks 
of  these  students  and  their  successors,  dur- 
73 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

ing  the  next  few  years,  are  to  come  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  evangelists,  Bible 
women,  and  other  workers  who  will  be 
needed  to  preach  Christ  to  the  unevangel- 
ized  world.  This  emphasizes  the  impor- 
tance of  the  Student  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  movement  in  mission  lands. 
In  uniting  the  native  Christian  students, 
first,  to  lead  their  fellow-students  to  Christ, 
and  then,  after  their  preparation  is  com- 
pleted, to  go  forth  to  evangelize  their  own 
countrymen,  it  is  doing  much  to  solve  the 
problem  of  the  world's  speedy  and  thorough 
evangelization. 

Great  Special  Facilities. 

In  considering  the  Church's  present 
power  of  achievement,  we  should  take  ac- 
count not  only  of  her  resources,  but  also 
of  the  facilities  at  her  disposal.  Among 
these  should  be  mentioned  the  work  of  the 
eighty-three  geographical  societies,  which, 
74 


TiiK  CiiuRcii's  Imi'i;uativiv  Duty. 

through  the  investigations  which  they  have 
encouraged,  have  done  so  much  to  make  the 
wliole  world  known. 

Another  help  to  the  Church  to-day  is  the 
intimate  knowledge  which  she  now  pos- 
sesses of  the  social,  moral,  and  spiritual 
condition  and  need  of  all  races  of  mankind. 

The  greatly  enlarged  and  improved 
means  of  communication  constitutes  one  of 
the  chief  facilities  of  which  the  Church  of 
this  generation  can  avail  herself.  Of  the 
400,000  miles  of  railway  lines  in  the  world 
a  considerable  and  growing  mileage  is  al- 
ready to  be  found  in  non-Christian  lands. 
It  is  possible,  for  example,  to  go  by  rail  to 
all  parts  of  India  and  Japan.  The  greatest 
railway  enterprises  of  the  time  are  those 
now  building  or  projected  in  non-Christian 
lands.  When  even  a  part  of  these  material- 
ize, as  they  will  within  a  few  years,  more 
than  one  third  of  the  unevangelized  world 
will  be  made  much  more  accessible  to  mis- 
75 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

sionaries.  It  took  Judson  eleven  months  to 
go  from  Salem  to  Calcutta.  The  trip  can 
now  be  made  in  a  month.  Moffat  was  three 
months  on  the  way  from  England  to  the 
Cape.  Now  the  voyage  lasts  but  two 
weeks.  These  developments  mean  an  im- 
mense saving  in  time  to  the  missionary 
force.  The  170,000  miles  of  submarine 
cables,  which  have  cost  at  least  $250,000,- 
000,  are  also  of  great  service  to  the  mission- 
ary societies.  They  help  the  Church  not 
only  by  promoting  general  intelligence,  but 
also  in  facilitating  the  financial  transactions 
and  administrative  v/ork  of  missions.  The 
thoroughly  organized  news  agencies  which, 
through  the  secular  press,  bring  before  the 
members  of  the  Church  facts  regarding  the 
most  distant  and  needy  nations,  serve  in- 
directly to  awaken  and  foster  interest  in  the 
inhabitants  of  less  favored  lands.  The  Uni- 
versal Postal  Union,  with  its  wonderful 
organization  and  its  vast  army  of  well-nigh 
76 


Tiu^  Church's  Lmpkrative  Duty. 

1,000,000  employees,  immensely  facilitates 
the  work  of  foreign  missions.  Within  a 
few  years,  doubtless,  it  will  include  within 
its  sphere  of  action  practically  all  of  those 
unevangelizcd  parts  of  the  world  which 
have  not  already  been  brought  within  its 
reach.  As  a  result  of  all  these  means  of 
communication  the  world  has  become  very 
small.  They  have,  as  it  were,  united  the 
separate  continents  into  one  great  nation. 
They  have  made  the  most  remote  parts  of 
the  inhabited  world  easily  accessible.  Ram- 
say points  out  that  "There  are  no  stronger 
influences  in  education  and  administration 
than  rapidity  and  ease  of  traveling,  and  the 
postal  service.  Paul,  both  by  precept  and 
example,  impressed  the  importance  of  both 
on  his  churches." 

The  printing  press  has  greatly  multiplied 

the  power  of  the   Church   to   disseminate 

Christian  truth.     At  the  beginning  of  this 

century  printing  was  done  on  hand  presses, 

77 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

and  only  from  one  to  two  hundred  impres- 
sions could  be  taken  in  an  hour.  Now 
there  are  presses  which  print,  bind,  and 
fold  100,000  papers  in  an  hour.  The  lino- 
type and  many  other  improvements  in 
printing  have,  to  a  remarkable  degree,  re- 
duced the  price  of  books.  In  past  genera- 
tions Bibles  were  expensive.  Carey's  first 
Bible  sold  at  $20.  A  Bengali  Bible  can 
now  be  purchased  for  a  few  cents.  So 
there  is  no  mechanical  difficulty  in  the  way 
of  giving  the  Bible  to  every  family  under 
heaven.  The  influence  and  protection  of 
Christian  governments  is  a  decided  help  to 
missions.  In  no  age  could  ambassadors  of 
Christ  carry  on  their  work  with  such  safety. 
Over  one  third  of  the  population  of  the  un- 
evangelized  world  are  under  the  direct  sway 
of  Christian  rulers.  Moreover,  the  Protes- 
tant powers  are  in  a  position  to  exert  an 
influence  which  will  make  possible  the  free 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  remaining 
78 


The  Church's  Imperative  Duty. 

two  thirds  of  the  people  who  have  not  heard 
of  Christ. 

Why  has  God  made  the  whole  world 
known  and  accessible  to  our  generation? 
Why  has  he  provided  us  with  such  won- 
derful agencies  ?  Not  that  the  forces  of  evil 
might  utilize  them.  Not  that  they  may  be 
wasted  or  unused.  Such  vast  preparations 
must  have  been  made  to  further  some 
mighty  beneficent  purpose.  Every  one  of 
these  wonderful  facilities  has  been  intended 
primarily  to  serve  as  a  handmaid  to  the  sub- 
lime enterprise  of  extending  and  building 
up  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  in  all  the 
world.  The  hand  of  God,  in  opening  door 
after  door  among  the  nations,  and  in  bring- 
ing to  light  inventions,  is  beckoning  the 
Church  of  our  day  to  larger  achievements. 

Secular  Enterprises  and  False  Faiths. 

The  undertakings   and  achievements  in 
the  realm  of  secular  and  non-Christian  en- 
79 


Young  People:  and  Missions. 

terprise  should  stimulate  us  to  believe  that 
it  is  possible  for  the  Church  to  evangelize 
the  world  in  this  generation.  Gold  was  dis- 
covered in  the  Klondike,  and  within  a  little 
over  a  year  it  is  said  that  over  100,000  men 
started  over  the  difficult  passes,  at  great  risk 
and  cost  of  life,  to  possess  themselves  of 
the  riches  of  that  region.  Stanley  wanted 
some  twenty  or  thirty  English  helpers  to 
accompany  him  on  his  last  great  African 
journey  of  exploration.  He  advertised  the 
fact,  and  within  a  few  days  over  1,200  men 
responded,  eager  to  face  the  deadly  climate 
and  other  great  perils  involved  in  the  ex- 
pedition. It  is  reported  that  in  the  last 
Presidential  campaign  in  America  one  of 
the  two  great  political  parties,  within  a  few 
weeks,  placed  two  documents  on  the  money 
question  in  the  hands  of  practically  every 
voter  in  the  whole  land.  America  has  had 
over  50,000  soldiers  in  the  Philippine  Is- 
lands. This  is  not  considered  an  extrava- 
80 


The  Church's  Imperative  Duty. 

gant  number  for  the  country  to  send  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth  to  accomplish  her  purpose. 
It  is  noticeable  that  when  the  regiments  re- 
turn to  the  home  land  they  receive  one  con- 
tinuous ovation  from  the  time  they  enter 
the  Golden  Gate  until  they  reach  their 
homes.  There  were  at  one  time  as  many 
as  200,000  soldiers  in  the  British  forces  at 
the  Cape.  We  have  seen  Canada  send  off 
contingent  after  contingent  with  cheers  and 
with  prayers.  Similar  scenes  have  taken 
place  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand.  We 
have  all  been  impressed  by  this  exhibition 
of  the  unity,  loyalty,  and  power  of  the  Brit- 
ish empire.  We  have  also  been  moved  by 
the  example  of  the  African  republics,  as  we 
have  seen  not  only  the  young  men,  but  also 
the  old  men  and  boys  going  out  to  fight 
the  battles  of  their  country.  It  is  looked 
upon  as  a  matter  of  course  that  both  of 
the  contending  parties  should  pour  out, 
without  stint,  the  lives  and  substance  of 
6  81 


You^;G  People  and  IMissions. 

their  people.  And  yet,  when  it  is  suggested 
that  all  Protestant  Christendom  unite  in 
sending  out  50,000  missionaries,  more  or 
less,  it  is  called  impracticable  and  visionary, 
as  being  too  severe  a  strain  on  the  re- 
sources of  the  Church.  The  naval  budgets 
of  at  least  three  countries  are  from  three  to 
live  times  as  great  as  the  sum  required  to 
sustain  the  present  missionary  forces  of  the 
Church.  The  IMormon  Church  numbers 
only  250,000,  but  it  has  1,700  missionaries 
at  work  in  different  parts  of  America  and 
other  lands.  If  they  need  more  it  is  said 
that  their  system  would  enable  them  to  send 
out  between  7,000  and  8,000.  The  little 
island  of  Ceylon  has  sent  out  multitudes  of 
Buddhist  missionaries  to  all  parts  of  Asia. 
In  the  University  of  El  Azhar,  in  Cairo,  we 
found  over  8,000  Mohammedan  students 
coming  from  countries  as  widely  separated 
as  Morocco,  the  western  provinces  of  China, 
and  the  East  India  islands.  They  were  be- 
82 


Till;  CiiuKcifs  Tmi'kkativk  Duty. 

in.q-  preparetl  to  g-o  out  as  missionaries  of 
the  false  Prophet.  Xo  human,  secular,  or 
non-Christian  undertaking  should  surpass 
in  enterprise,  devotion,  and  aggressiveness 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Tiir:  Thought  of'  !Many  Leadkrs. 

Notwithstanding  the  considerations  upon 
which  we  have  been  dwelling,  there  are 
here  and  there  to  be  found  those  who 
speak  of  the  idea  of  the  evangelization  of 
the  world  in  this  generation  as  fantastic 
and  visionary.  And  yet  was  it  not  Gordon 
Hall  and  Samuel  Xewell  wdio,  in  1818,  is- 
sued an  appeal  to  Christians  to  evangelize 
the  world  within  a  generation?  Did  not 
the  missionaries  of  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
in  1836,  unite  in  a  most  impressive  appeal 
to  the  Church  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature  within  their  generation?  Did  not 
the  Shanghai  IMissionary  Conference  of 
1877  express  its  desire  to  have  China  eman- 
83 


Young  P£;opIvE  and  Missions. 

cipated  from  the  thraldom  of  sin  in  this 
generation,  and  its  belief  that  it  might  be 
done?  An  increasing  number  of  the  most 
eminent  and  experienced  missionaries  of 
the  world  have  expressed  their  strong  be- 
lief in  the  possibility  of  the  realization  of 
this  watchword.  Secretaries  of  several  of 
the  leading  mission  boards  of  America  and 
England  have  indorsed  the  idea  without 
reservation.  Editors,  including  that  thor- 
ough missionary  student,  Dr.  Robson  of 
Scotland,  have  spoken  of  its  reasonableness. 
The  bishops  of  the  Anglican  Communion,  at 
the  last  Lambeth  Conference,  expressed 
their  gratification  at  the  student  missionary 
uprising  which  had  taken  as  its  watchword 
the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  gen- 
eration. In  1900,  at  the  great  student  con- 
vention in  London,  Alexander  MacKennal, 
president  of  the  Free  Church  Council,  said, 
regarding  the  evangelization  of  the  world 
in  this  generation,  when  the  idea  was  put 
84 


The  Church's  Imperative  Duty. 

before  him,  "I  felt  first  the  audacity  of  the 
j)roposaI,  then  the  reasonableness  of  the 
proposal,  and  lastly  that  the  confidence  of 
young  men  and  women  would  carry  it  into 
effect  I  was  sure.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the 
very  finger  of  God  was  pointing  the  way, 
and  the  Spirit  of  God  inspiring  the  en- 
deavor." At  the  same  convention  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  said  that  "It  is 
not  an  inconceivable  thing  that,  as  God  has 
within  the  last  generation  opened  the  way, 
so  within  the  present  generation  he  may 
crown  his  works.  It  seems  as  if  we  who 
are  now  living,  the  young  men  among  us 
who  are  now  joining  in  this  very  union, 
those  who  are  now  studying  the  great  task 
to  which  the  Lord  has  called  them,  shall, 
before  they  die,  be  able  to  say :  'The  whole 
race  of  mankind  is  not  yet  Christian,  but, 
nevertheless,  there  is  no  nation  upon  earth 
where  the  Christian  faith  is  not  taught  if 
men  will  accept  it;  there  is  no  place  upon 
85 


Young  People  and  jMissions. 

the  whole  surface  of  the  globe  where  man 
may  not  hear  the  message  of  God  and  the 
story  of  the  cross.'  "  It  is  significant  that 
during  the  great  Ecumenical  Conference  in 
New  York  in  the  year  1900  it  was  not  the 
young  men  chiefly,  but  the  veterans  of  the 
cross  who  exhorted  us  to  larger  achieve- 
ment. Was  it  not  Bishop  Thoburn  who 
said  that  if  that  Conference  and  those  whom 
it  represented  would  do  their  duty,  within 
the  first  decade  of  the  new  century  ten  mil- 
lions of  souls  might  be  gathered  into  the 
Church  of  Christ?  Was  it  not  Dr.  Ash- 
more  who  expressed  the  belief  that  before 
the  twentieth  century  closes  Christianity 
would  be  the  dominant  religion  among  the 
multitudinous  inhabitants  of  the  Chinese 
empire?  And  was  it  not  Dr.  Chamberlain 
who  affirmed  the  possibility  of  bringing  In- 
dia under  the  sway  of  Christ  within  the  life- 
time of  some,  at  least,  in  that  assembly?  If 
these  great  leaders  are  thus  sanguine  of  vic- 
86 


Tiiic  Church's  Impkuativi:  Duty. 

tory,  should  those  of  us  who  arc  at  home 
hesitate?  I  have  just  received  the  pub- 
hshed  report  of  the  Conference  of  Mission- 
aries held  in  India  a  few  months  ago. 
That  Conference,  composed  of  the  official 
representatives  of  all  missionary  societies  at 
work  in  India,  unanimously  expressed  the 
belief  that  India  should  be  evangelized  in 
this  generation,  and  appeals  to  Christendom 
to  send  9,000  missionaries  to  India  that  it 
may  be  accomplished. 

Let  us  not  forget  that  the  evangelization 
of  the  world  is  God's  enterprise.  Jesus 
Christ  is  its  leader.  He  who  is  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  yea,  and  forever,  abides 
in  those  who  go  forth  to  preach  for  him. 
The  Holy  Spirit  is  able  to  shake  whole  com- 
munities. The  word  of  God  is  quick  and 
powerful.  Prayer  can  remove  mountains. 
Faith  is  the  victory  that  overcomes  the 
world. 

What  must  be  done  if  the  world  is  to  be 
87 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

evangelized  in  this  generation?  We  who 
are  delegates  in  this  Convention  and  all 
those  who  hold  positions  of  leadership  in 
the  work  of  the  Church  must  have  clear 
and  strong  convictions  that  it  is  our  duty 
to  do  all  in  our  power  as  individuals  and  as 
a  Church  to  bring  the  knowledge  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  our  day  to  every  creature.  We 
must  believe  that  this  is  not  only  desirable, 
but  also  absolutely  necessary.  We  must 
look  upon  it  not  only  as  a  possible  task,  but 
also  as  one  to  be  accomplished.  If  we  are 
skeptical  as  to  its  being  the  will  of  God  that 
the  Church  shall  put  forth  her  energies  to 
bring  the  truth  about  Christ  within  range  of 
all  men  of  our  generation  this  tremendously 
important  work  will  not  be  done. 

A  Statesmanlike  Plan. 

It  is  likewise  important  that  we  have  a 
statesmanlike  plan.     The  present  plans  of 
the  Church  are  certainly  not  consistent  with 
88' 


Thk  Church's  Imperative  Duty. 

a  deep  conviction  that  in  our  generation  all 
men  should  be  given  an  opportunity  to 
know  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour  and  Lord. 
There  is  one  denomination  which  has  within 
the  past  few  months  adopted  such  a  states- 
manlike policy.  We  may  well  give  heed  to 
their  example.  I  refer  to  the  United  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  this  country.  It  is  one 
of  the  smallest  denominations  in  the  land, 
numbering  as  it  does  considerably  less  than 
200,000  communicants.  It  is  not  regarded 
as  one  of  the  wealthy  denominations.  It 
has  the  reputation  of  being  very  conserva- 
tive. It  has  at  the  present  time  three 
foreign  missions,  one  in  the  Punjab  in 
India,  one  in  Egypt,  and  one  recently 
opened  in  the  Egyptian  Soudan.  From 
first-hand  knowledge  of  these  missions 
I  am  prepared  to  say  that  they  rank 
among  the  best  conducted  and  most  fruit- 
ful missions  in  all  the  world.  Several 
months  ago  their  missionaries  in  the  Pun- 
89 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

jab  came  together  and  discussed  at  great 
length  the  problem  of  evangelizing  the  part 
of  the  population  of  that  region  for  which 
they  considered  themselves  primarily  re- 
sponsible. Not  far  from  the  same  time 
their  missionaries  in  the  Egyptian  field  in 
conference  considered  the  same  problem. 
They  came  to  the  conclusion  that  in  these 
two  fields  alone  there  are  about  13,000,000 
for  whose  evangelization  they  are  in  a  spe- 
cial sense  responsible  because  of  their  provi- 
dential relation  to  these  fields.  They  esti- 
mated that  to  evangelize  the  people  in  this 
territory  within  a  generation  would  require 
460  new  missionaries,  a  sixfold  increase  of 
their  present  missionary  staff.  This  calls 
for  one  missionary  for  every  25,000  people 
to  be  evangelized.  The  conclusions  of 
these  two  missions  came  before  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  in  this  country  last  spring,  and  that 
body  added  its  cordial  indorsement  to  the 
90 


Thj2  Church's  Lmpickativk  Duty. 

unanimous  appeal  of  the  two  missions  for 
the  number  of  new  workers  required  to  ac- 
complish the  evangelization  of  these  needy 
and  difficult  fields  within  a  generation.  It 
is  interesting-  to  notice  that  this  program 
calls  for  one  missionary  to  every  258  mem- 
bers of  the  denomination,  and  to  sustain  the 
entire  missionary  staff  proposed  would  re- 
quire annually  but  $6  per  member.  That 
this  is  not  an  extravagant  expectation 
is  seen  from  the  one  fact  that  the  Aletho- 
dists  of  poor  Finland  in  1902  gave  $8.61 
each  toward  Christian  and  philanthropic 
enterprises.  If  the  members  of  our  Church 
were  to  adopt  a  similar  policy  it  would  in- 
crease our  missionary  staff  over  10,000. 
The  example  of  this  Church  has  its  lesson 
for  us.  We  should  map  out  that  part  of  the 
world  field  for  which  we  are  specially  re- 
sponsible. We  should  make  a  study  of  the 
strategic  positions  in  our  field  and  deter- 
mine the  order  for  their  adequate  occupa- 
91 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

tion.  We  should  decide  on  the  number  of 
men  and  women  hkely  to  be  required  year 
after  year  for  a  period  of  time.  We  should 
adopt  measures  to  cooperate  with  the  Vol- 
unteer Movement  in  raising  up  and  training 
these  workers.  Our  relationship  to  other 
missionary  bodies  should  be  wisely  defined 
and  the  rules  of  comity  should  be  conscien- 
tiously observed,  that  nothing  be  lost  by 
overlapping  or  friction.  In  a  word,  our 
plan  should  embrace  that  part  of  the  world 
to  which  God  has  related  us  and  should 
comprehend  our  generation. 

Working  the  Plan. 

We  must  not  only  have  a  statesmanlike 
plan,  but  must  work  that  plan.  To  this  end 
we  should  give  first  attention  to  the  raising 
up  of  workers.  Men  will  be  needed 
through  the  coming  years  to  lead  this  en- 
terprise as  a  whole ;  that  is,  men  to  become 
missionary  bishops,  secretaries  of  the  home 
92 


The  Church's  Imperative;  Duty. 

societies,  heads  of  great  foreign  under- 
takings like  our  colleges,  and  leaders  of 
forward  movements.  These  men — and 
their  number  will  not  exceed  a  few  scores 
in  the  generation — should  be  men  of  great 
strength  and  of  large  equipment.  They  are 
the  product  not  of  human  maneuvering, 
but  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whose 
function  it  is  to  separate  men  unto  the  work 
whereunto  God  has  called  them. 

We  shall  want  many  hundreds  of  mis- 
sionaries before  the  generation  is  past.  We 
have  few,  if  any,  more  foreign  workers 
now  than  ten  years  ago,  although. the  field 
which  we  occupy  is  much  larger  and  far 
more  ripe  than  at  that  time.  We  must  not 
overlook  the  great  peril  resulting  from  in- 
adequate evangelization  of  a  mission  field. 
We  must  have  more  workers  to  substitute 
for  the  aged  soon  to  retire ;  to  reenter 
abandoned  fields  ;  to  relieve  the  overworked 
staff  in  certain  districts ;  to  carry  on  a  wise 
93 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

policy  of  expansion.  Our  Corresponding 
vSecretaries  have  maintained  that  on  most  of 
the  fields  the  number  should  be  at  once 
doubled  if  we  are  to  do  justice  to  our  op- 
portunity. If  you  press  me  as  to  how  many 
missionaries  will  be  required,  I  would  an- 
swer, A  sufficient  number  for  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  part  of  the  world  for  which 
our  denomination  is  responsible.  We 
should  not  disguise  the  fact  that  this  calls 
for  a  far  larger  number  than  we  have  real- 
ized. Where  will  they  be  obtained?  It 
has  been  said  that  God  sifted  Britain  to 
found  New  England.  He  will  sift  our  col- 
leges and  seminaries  to  discover  and  sepa- 
rate the  workers  for  the  establishment  of 
his  kingdom  in  the  needy  fields  to  which 
he  has  related  us. 

Nothing  less  than  an  army  of  native  pas- 
tors, evangelists,  and  teachers  will  be  re- 
quired.    It  should  be  an  object  of  constant 
thought  and  effort  on  our  part  to  strengthen 
94 


Tin;  CiuKcn's  ]  m  ri:RATi\i-,  Duty. 

the  native  arm  of  the  service.  Where  we 
shall  want  hundreds  of  missionaries  we 
shall  want  thousands  of  native  workers. 
By  multiplying-  the  native  agencies  we  arc 
working  in  line  with  the  most  direct  and 
most  effective  conquest  of  the  nations. 
Therefore,  we  should  greatly  reinforce  our 
educational  work,  \\nicn  we  pause  to  think 
on  what  has  been  accomplished  by  our  col- 
leges in  America,  such  as  Wesleyan. 
Dickinson,  Ohio  Wesleyan,  Northwestern, 
Drew,  Boston,  Garrett,  and  the  Woman's 
College  in  Baltimore,  it  gives  most  stimu- 
lating suggestions  as  to  what  may  be  ac- 
complished by  developing  our  colleges  and 
seminaries  on  the  foreign  field. 

Of  equal  importance  is  it  that  we  have  a 
great  number  of  pastors,  editors,  and  lay 
workers  who  will  devote  themselves  to 
leading  forward  the  forces  of  the  home 
Church.  We  need  an  increasing  number  of 
men  and  women  who  say,  If  God  does  not 
95 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

permit  us  to  go  abroad  we  will  stay  at  home, 
but  will  stay  for  the  sake  of  the  whole 
world.  These  workers  will  regard  the 
home  churches  not  only  as  a  field,  but  also 
and  chiefly  as  a  force  to  be  wielded  on  be- 
half of  the  world's  evangelization.  They 
will  look  upon  the  United  States  as  a  base 
for  aggressive  operations  in  a  world-wide 
campaign.  Who  can  doubt  for  a  moment 
that  if  all  the  home  leaders  of  the  Church 
really  desired  to  have  the  world  evangelized 
in  this  generation  and  set  themselves  reso- 
lutely to  bring  up  the  hosts  of  God  to  the 
task,  it  would  be  accomplished  ?  When  our 
pastors  and  lay  leaders  are  powerfully 
seized  by  this  idea,  then  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  membership  will  be  educated  and  fired 
on  the  subject;  then  money  sufficient  will 
be  forthcoming ;  then  missionary  candi- 
dates will  be  offering  themselves  in  ade- 
quate numbers;  then  the  spirit  of  prayer 
will  be  upon  all  our  churches. 
96 


The  Church's  Imperative  Duty. 

Vision  the  Strength  of  Life. 

If  the  world  is  to  be  evangelized  in  our 
day  we  must  have  not  only  conviction,  a 
statesmanlike  plan,  and  a  faithful  working 
of  our  plan,  but  we  must  also  have  vision. 
A  man's  visions  are  indeed  the  strength  of 
his  life.  Where  there  is  no  vision  the 
people  perish.  Let  us  catch  and  become 
absorbed  with  the  vision  of  this  whole 
world  evangelized.  Let  us  look  down 
through  the  years  and  see  the  Gospel  mes- 
sengers and  agencies  so  widely  and  so  wise- 
ly distributed  that  a  personal  knowledge  of 
Christ  the  Saviour  is  readily  accessible  to 
all  people.  Let  us  be  under  the  spell  of  that 
sight  beautiful  on  every  mountain  of  those 
wdio  proclaim  good  tidings  and  publish 
peace.  Let  us  behold  that  "great  multitude 
which  no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations, 
and  kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues" 
standing  "before  the  throne  and  before  the 
7  97 


Young  People;  and  Missions. 

Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes,  and  palms 
in  their  hands ;"  crying  "with  a  loud  voice, 
saying,  Salvation  to  our  God  which  sitteth 
upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb." 

"And  lo,  there  dawns  a  yet  more  glorious  day: 
The  saints  triumphant  rise  in  bright  array, 
The  King  of  glory  passes  on  his  way. 
Alleluia !     Alleluia ! 

"  From     earth's    wide     bounds,    from     ocean's 

farthest  coast. 
Through  gates  of  pearl  streams  in  the  countless 

host. 
Singing  to  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 
Alleluia !    Alleluia !" 

98 


III. 

THE   EPWORTH    LEAGUE 
AND  MISSIONS. 

By  REV,  JOSEPH  F.  BERRY,  D.D. 

I  WONDER  if  I  am  mistaken  when  I  say 
that  the  Young  People's  Movement  is  the 
most  significant  fact  in  the  history  of  the 
Church  for  fifty  years.  I  say  the  most  sig- 
nificant, and  yet  none  of  us  understand  how 
significant  it  is.  He  who  knows  but  Httle 
about  painting  is  apt  to  get  too  near  to  a 
painting  to  obtain  the  best  view,  but  the 
true  critic  almost  always  stands  at  some 
distance  in  order  to  form  his  judgment. 
What  is  true  of  pictures  is  likewise  true  of 
many  other  things  in  this  life,  so  that  "dis- 
tance lends  enchantment  to  the  view." 
Likewise  we  might  have  a  great  man 
99 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

among  us,  but  the  man's  work  may  not  be 
understood.  What  is  true  of  the  picture 
and  of  the  man  is  equally  true  of  a  move- 
ment— a  great  movement.  There  may  be 
a  great  religious  movement  in  our  imme- 
diate presence,  and  yet  we  might  not  under- 
stand its  sublimity  and  its  influence  upon 
our  time  and  thought.  It  is  often  necessary 
for  us  to  look  at  some  things  for  five  years, 
for  ten  years,  for  fifteen  years,  in  order  to 
understand  them  properly.  This  Young 
People's  Movement  is  still  in  its  form- 
ative period,  and  when  I  say  we  thank 
God  for  it,  we  should  thank  God  simply 
for  its  beginning — because  the  evolution 
has   begun. 

Take  the  Sunday  school  as  an  example ; 
it  has  taken  the  Sunday  school  one  hundred 
years  to  reach  a  respectable  position,  and  so 
it  will  take  more  than  thirteen  years,  more 
than  twenty  years,  more  than  fifty  years  for 
this  marvelous  development  in  the  life  of 

ICO 


RpwoRTu  Lkague  and  Missions. 

the  modern  Chvirch  to  reach  its  maximum  of 
efficiency  and  success.  Therefore  I  beg  you 
to  remember  this — that  we  are  simply  en- 
deavoring to  find  the  l^est  way  to  do  these 
things.  As  yet  we  are  not  ready  to  be 
judged  as  being  at  the  maximum  of  our 
power  and  ability  to  do  them. 

Stages  of  Devei^opment, 

I  had  an  idea,  my  friends,  that  yonder  at 
Cleveland  the  men  who  founded  the  Ep- 
worth  League  were  not  divinely  inspired  to 
make  much  of  the  plan  when  it  was  first 
conceived.  They  prayed  a  good  deal,  and 
trusted  in  the  Lord  a  good  deal — there  is 
no  question  about  that — but  I  do  not  believe 
the  plan  was  especially  ordained  and  in- 
spired. It  was  the  best  arrangement  of 
work  that  could  be  thought  out  to  meet  the 
conditions  that  then  prevailed.  I  judge 
that  was  the  crisis  in  the  history  of  the 
organization. 

lOI 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  General  Confer- 
ence I  went  up  in  the  office  of  the  Epworth 
League  headquarters,  and  as  I  went  in  I 
realized  for  the  first  time  what  the  Confer- 
ence had  done.  I  was  not  only  the  Editor 
of  the  Herald,  but  had  become  the  Secretary 
of  the  Epworth  League.  I  found,  in  the 
central  office  of  the  Epworth  League,  that 
they  recorded  the  names  of  new  chapters, 
that  a  yearbook  was  prepared  and  some  lit- 
erature provided  for  circulation — that  was 
all  that  was  being  done  there. 

Understand  me,  I  am  not  criticising  the 
Epworth  League  of  that  day,  but  I  merely 
wish  to  draw  your  attention  to  the  scope 
of  its  work  at  that  time.  Well,  friends,  I 
went  with  a  sad  heart  to  the  caucus,  for  I 
realized  that  the  work  of  the  League  was 
to  be  reformed  and  remodeled,  and  I  knew 
that  some  were  in  favor  of  reform,  and 
some — men  just  as  conscientious  as  I — were 
against  any  reform.  Altogether  we  spent 
1 02 


Epwortii  Luague  and  Missions. 

three  of  the  most  uncomfortable  days  that 
I  have  ever  experienced,  due  to  the  excess- 
ive heat  in  Chicago  that  week. 

The  Forward  Movement. 

About  twenty  tilings  were  presented  to 
us  as  worthy  of  our  consideration.  One  by 
one  they  were  safely  disposed  of,  and  then 
we  came  to  the  advance  movement  of  the 
Epworth  League,  and  this  was  divided  into 
four  headings:  First,  The  Systematic  and 
Devotional  Study  of  the  English  Bible  ;  sec- 
ond, Missions  and  Allied  Benevolences ; 
third,  Christian  Stewardship ;  fourth,  Indi- 
vidual Evangelism. 

The  Board  of  Control  did  a  wise  thing  in 
mapping  out  the  work  of  the  quadrennium, 
for  God  has  made  this  thing  a  forward 
movement  and  his  benediction  has  been  up- 
on our  work  in  a  very  marvelous  manner 
ever  since.  But  the  missionary  work  under 
that  plan  occupied  a  minor  relation.  It  was 
103 


Young  Peopi,e;  and  Missions. 

simply  to  be  promoted  by  a  committee  under 
the  supervision  of  the  first  department,  but 
there  gradually  grew  up  a  vision  that  that 
minor  relation  was  unworthy  of  the  great 
cause  of  the  evangelization  of  the  world, 
and  when  we  came  to  Philadelphia  last 
May  we  came  down  with  prayers  in  our 
hearts  and  upon  our  lips. 

The  Nkw  Missionary  Department. 

Now,  everybody  was  in  favor  of  giving 
missions  the  largest  possible  chance ;  every- 
body was  in  favor  of  legislating  for  the  pro- 
motion of  that  cause,  but  there  was  a  very 
wide  difference  of  opinion  as  to  what  was 
really  the  wise  thing  to  do.  Everybody  in 
the  lecture  room  of  that  Arch  Street  Church 
was  taking  particular  interest  in  this  cause 
during  those  two  days.  Other  matters  were 
up  for  consideration,  but  those  other  mat- 
ters— important  in  themselves — were  made 
to  sink  almost  out  of  sight  in  view  of  this 
104 


Epworth  League  and  Missions. 

major  issue  concerning  that  which  was  up- 
on our  hearts. 

I  believe,  brothers,  that  the  Epworth 
League  had  providential  origin,  for  God 
was  in  the  hearts  of  our  men  fourteen  years 
ago.  So  the  legislation  of  last  May  was 
providential,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  was  there 
and  God  was  there.  So  after  our  defeat 
and  our  debate — debate  that  was  sometimes 
spirited,  and  debate  that  was  looked  upon 
with  apprehension  by  Brother  Cooper  and 
myself,  and  we  were  defeated  by  a  tie  vote 
— our  confidence  was  somehow  unshaken. 
We  had  insisted  upon  the  new  department 
being  called  the  Department  of  Missions, 
and  some  of  the  brothers  just  as  stoutly  in- 
sisted that  it  should  not  be  called  that,  but 
when  finally  some  one,  as  if  by  accident, 
suggested  that  it  be  called  "The  Depart- 
ment of  World  Evangelism,"  it  seemed 
to  me  at  that  moment  that  the  man  who 
suggested  the  name  was  inspired.  I  like 
105 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

the  name  better  now  than  if  we  had  taken 
the  first  one,  and  I  feel  heartily  thankful 
to  our  Father  that  we  decided  upon  that 
name.  The  name  has  stimulated  and  awak- 
ened more  interest  in  the  movement  than 
perhaps  the  original  name  could  have 
done. 

The  news  was  flashed  out  that  same  af- 
ternoon by  telegraph  to  several  men  who 
were  deeply  interested  in  the  Church  that 
a  "Department  of  World  Evangelism" 
was  now  a  part  of  the  regular  machinery 
of  the  Epworth  League.  The  reception  of 
that  news,  and  the  ready  way  in  which  the 
League  has  adjusted  itself  to  the  new  con- 
ditions, seem  to  have  amply  justified  the  ac- 
tion taken  by  our  Board. 

Summary  oe  Results. 

Let  me  now  give  you  a  summary.     In 
1897  practically  no  provision  had  been  made 
for  constitutional  work  for  missions.    Some 
106 


Er WORTH    LeAGUIC   and   JMlSSIONS. 

missionary  work  was  clone,  but  it  was  done 
without  authority.  Then,  there  was  no 
study  course  undertaken  by  the  League; 
now,  over  10,000  young-  people  are  enrolled 
in  our  classes.  Then,  there  were  practi- 
cally no  missionary  books  in  the  hands  of 
the  young  people  of  the  Church;  now,  of 
the  IMissionary  Campaign  Libraries  alone 
over  1 1 1 ,000  volumes  have  been  sold.  Then, 
the  Student  Campaign  had  never  been 
heard  of;  since  1897  ^'^'^^  37°  students  in 
30  colleges  have  worked  in  25  States  and 
addressed  over  200,000  people.  Then, 
there  was  practically  no  literature,  aside 
from  the  Missionary  Spoke;  now,  we  have 
30  pamphlets  and  other  publications  which 
are  available  for  the  young  people,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  Epzvorth  Herald.  Verily 
God  has  wrought  this  evolution,  and  we  are 
going  rapidly  on.  Verily  we  are  getting 
ready  to  carry  it  on  to-day,  and  with  God's 
help  and  aid  and  strength  in  the  work 
107 


Young  Pe;ople;  and  Missions. 

of  evangelizing  the  world  we  will  carry  it 
on  and  out  in  this  generation. 

InDIVIDUAIv   EVANGEIvIZATlON. 

I  might  say  now  that  the  great  error  of 
evangelization  at  home  among  the  rank  and 
file  of  our  membership  is  putting  the  re- 
sponsibility upon  the  pastor,  and  the  pastor 
in  turn  has  come  to  put  the  responsibility 
upon  the  shoulders  of  some  other  man — the 
responsibility  of  bringing  his  people  to 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  Christian  Advocate,  New  York,  and 
the  Northzvestern  Christian  Advocate,  Chi- 
cago, had  a  celebrated  debate  some  time 
ago.  The  Northwestern  claimed  that  dur- 
ing the  four  years  of  the  Twentieth  Century 
Thank  Offering  Movement  1,500,000  souls 
had  been  converted  under  Methodist 
preaching.  Dr.  Buckley  took  issue  with 
Brother  Thompson,  and  said  that  could  not 
possibly  be,  for  only  109,000  souls  had  been 
108 


Ep WORTH  League  and  Missions. 

brought  into  the  Church ;  therefore  he 
queried,  in  the  language  of  our  Saviour, 
"Where  are  the  nine?" 

Having  thought  of  the  matter  very  care- 
fully during  the  past  few  months  I  say,  with 
a  full  understanding  of  what  is  involved  in 
the  remark,  that  the  time  has  come  at  home 
when  every  member  of  the  Church  must 
understand  that  he  is  himself  an  evangelist, 
and  when  we  all  must  cease  putting  our 
responsibility  upon  the  pastor,  and  when  the 
pastor  must  cease  putting  his  responsibility 
upon  the  professional  evangelist.  The  re- 
sponsibility rests  upon  each  individually, 
and  work  in  this  line,  as  well  as  in  other 
lines  of  Church  work,  means  the  consecra- 
tion of  our  individual  talents,  so  as  to  reach 
individuals  by  the  power  of  personal  per- 
suasion. 

Universal  Duty. 

Another  thing  is  also  true,  namely,  that  a 
certain  part    of    the    membership    of  the 
109 


Young  People  and  Missions. 

Church  must  go  abroad  to  preach  Jesus 
Christ  to  the  benighted  millions  of  the 
world.  If  God  calls  them  they  must  go. 
Do  we  say,  "But  we  have  no  such  call, 
therefore  we  are  free  from  responsibility"? 
We  may  as  well  face  the  fact — the  sooner 
we  face  it  the  better,  unless  we  are  prepared 
to  face  condemnation — we  must  go  or  send 
them. 

It  is  the  duty  of  most  of  us  to  send,  and 
the  object  of  this  campaign  among  the 
young  people  of  our  Church  is  to  organize 
and  inspire  the  young  hosts  of  Methodism 
to  send  those  who  are  called ;  to  back  them 
up  by  our  prayers  and  our  contributions. 
May  God  forward  this  campaign  among  the 
young  people  of  our  Church ;  may  God  give 
us  wisdom  to  do  the  right  thing  and  do  it 
promptly;  may  God  impart  to  us  the  mo- 
tives which  should  inspire  us,  and  then  the 
success  of  our  work  is  assured ! 
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Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


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